SHERWIN  CODY 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

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http://www.archive.org/details/businesspracticeOOcodyrich  ' 


Business  Practice 
Up  To  Date 


With  Commercial  Map  of  the  United  States 


By  SHERWIN  CODY 

Author  of  "How  to  Do  Easiness  by  Letter"  "The  Art  of  Writing  and  Speaking  the  English 

Language,"  "Short  Coarse  in  Advertising,"  etc.  i 


Published  by  the 

SCHOOL    OF    ENGLISH 

CHICAGO 


Copyright  1913 
By  Sherwin  Cody 


PUBLISHER'S   PREFACE 

In  the  preparation  of  a  book  of  this  kind  the  experience  of 
a  business  man  must  unite  with  the  skill  of  the  trained  edu- 
cator. The  pedagogical  skill  is  the  more  important,  but  the 
professional  teacher  who  takes  his  "experience"  at  second  hand 
nearly  always  gets  things  out  of  proportion.  Unimportant 
matters  are  given  as  much  attention  as  important  matters; 
antiquated  usages  are  included  with  current  usages.  The  per- 
spective is  wrong. 

The  author  of  this  book  is  not  only  a  business  man  daily 
engaged  in  business  practice,  but  he  is  recognized  as  an  au- 
thority in  the  business  world.  At  the  same  time  the  fact  that 
his  text  on  correspondence  is  one  of  the  most  widely  used  in 
the  schools  proves  that  he  understands  the  needs  of  class  in- 
struction. 

In  this  book  will  be  found  the  best  current  business  prac- 
tice, seen  in  the  true  perspective  of  actual  business,  unham- 
pered by  traditional  errors,  yet  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
beginner. 

The  teaching  system,  perfected  by  the  aid  of  several  ex- 
perienced and  successful  commercial  teachers,  including  Mr. 
D.  D.  Mueller  of  the  Mueller  School,  Cincinnati,  and  Stephen 
Dwan  of  the  Seattle  High  School,  one  of  the  most  practical 
educators  in  the  United  States,  will  be  found  in  a  separate 
exercise  book,  supplied  free  to  schools.  This  includes  all  the 
necessary  letterheads,  blank  forms,  etc.,  with  explicit  direc- 
tions for  preparing  exercises. 

Mr.  Cody's  previous  book,  "How  to  Do  Business  by  Let- 
ter," of  which  over  a  hundred  thousand  copies  have  been  sold, 
was  largely  perfected  for  teaching  purposes  by  the  aid  of  Mr. 
Dwan. 

To  Mr.  H.  A.  Grammes  of  Grammes  &  Sons,  Allentown. 
Pa.,  the  author  is  indebted  for  many  valuable  suggestions  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  active  business  man. 


:^os4()q 


CONTENTS 

Page 

How  to  Succeed  in   Business 7 

How    to    Arrange   a    Business    Letter    Attractively,    illustrated....    11 

Getting   Out   a   Day's   Dictation 15 

Office    Appliances 22 

Business    Papers,    illustrated 28 

Transportation,    illustrated 59 

How  to  Prepare  Legal  Forms,  illustrated 7Z 

Filing,    illustrated 90 

Duties    of   a    Private    Secretary 104 

Printing,    illustrated 123 

Getting  a   Job   and    Keeping   It 135 

Appendix  A,  Commercial    Geography 144 

Appendix  B,  Principles    of    Success    in    Business 157 

Appendix  C,  Office   Salesmanship 183 

Appendix  D,  Part    I,    Simple    Foundation    Principles    of    Loose- 
leaf  and  Card  Systems,  illustrated 207 

Appendix  D,  Part  II,  Exercises  on  How  to  Systematize  an  Office  233 
Customs   and    Regulations   of   the    Postoffice 254 


Business  Practice  Up  to  Date 


CHAPTER  I 
How  to  Succeed  in  Business 

1.  The  first  requirement  of  an  employee  in  business  is 
trustworthiness.  You  may  not  believe  it,  but  some  very 
stupid  persons  have  excellent  positions  for  the  reason  that 
they  can  always  be  depended  on,  they  attend  to  their  work 
faithfully  even  when  they  feel  sick,  they  are  always  on  time 
in  the  morning,  they  are  not  in  too  much  of  a  hurry  to  get 
away  at  night,  they  do  not  indulge  in  much  social  gossip  dur- 
ing business  hours  but  attend  closely  to  their  duties.  Faith- 
fulness is  the  greatest  virtue  in  business  life — all  wise  business 
men  agree  on  this.  It  is  even  the  basis  of  credit  when  men 
get  into  business  for  themselves,  for  a  man  who  was  a  faithful 
employee  will  be  trusted  even  when  he  has  no  money  at  all, 
where  the  man  with  money  but  reputed  to  be  unfaithful  will 
get  very  little  credit. 

2.  The  second  great  requirement  in  business  is  initiative — 
the  ability  to  go  ahead  and  do  things  without  being  told,  the 
exercise  of  common-sense  judgment,  courtesy,  tact,  and  a 
pleasant  manner  in  dealing  with  customers,  and  a  conception 
of  what  the  boss  is  driving  at,  what  he  wants  to  get  done.  This 
may  be  called  a  natural  talent  and  adaptability  for  business, 
but  it  can  be  very  largely  cultivated. 

3.  The  third  requirement  of  the  business  man  is  experi- 
ence. Experience  is  the  substitute  for  talent.  If  you  do  not 
have  a  mind  that  tells  you  what  to  do  instinctively,  you  can 
patiently  learn  by  experience  what  you  are  expected  to  do,  and 


8  ^BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

when  yoil  knQw^wtiatg^ou  ought  to  do  you  will  have  no  trouble 
in  goingeihead-ahd  dQi^g  M^at  the  business  man  wants  done, 
what  he  pays  you  for. 

This  book  is  to  help  you  get  experience — to  teach  you  some 
of  the  things  you  would  otherwise  have  to  learn  in  the  business 
office  during  the  time  for  which  you. are  paid  to  do  work.  If 
you  must  spend  your  time  learning  to  do  things,  it  is  obvious 
that  you  cannot  earn  as  much  as  you  would  after  you  know 
how ;  and  often  when  you  learn  on  the  business  man's  time 
he  keeps  you  on  a  low  salary  after  you  have  learned  so  that  he 
may  make  up  what  he  lost  while  you  are  learning.  If  you  are 
prepared  in  advance  you  will  not  only  get  a  better  salary  to 
start  with,  but  you  will  get  more  rapid  advancement. 

Here  are  some  of  the  things  you  ought  to  be  familiar  with 
so  you  will  not  have  to  be  told  in  too  much  detail : 

a.  You  are  likely  to  get  into  an  office  where  any  sort  of 
letterhead  is  in  use,  or  even  where  several  different  kinds  of 
letterheads  are  used  for  different  purposes.  It  is  important 
that  you  be  able  to  place  a  letter  of  any  length,  long,  short,  or 
medium,  on  any  kind  of  letterhead  so  it  will  have  a  handsome 
appearance.  That  is  the  first  thing  a  business  man  looks  at — 
if  your  letters  look  really  handsome,  and  are  free  from  erasures, 
and  are  reasonably  accurate,  you  have  probably  secured  your 
position  against  possibility  of  discharge.  The  appearance  of 
your  letter  under  different  conditions  is  a  very  important 
thing. 

b.  You  must  be  prepared  to  attend  to  all  the  different 
things  that  go  with  letter  writing,  such  as  making  enclosures, 
sending  circulars  and  catalogues,  properly  sealing  and  stamp- 
ing letters  and  other  mail  matter.  Very  often  you  will  have  to 
figure  out  bad  signatures,  complete  imperfect  addresses,  as 
when  a  letter  comes  from  a  foreign  town  and  the  country  is 
not  given,  or  the  state  is  not  given,  and  the  like. 

c.  You  will  be  expected  to  meet  callers,  answer  the  tele- 
phone, and  reply  intelligently  to  all  sorts  of  inquiries.    To  the 


HOW  TO   SUCCEED   IX   BUSINESS  9 

business  man  this  is  just  as  important  a  part  of  your  duties  as 
writing  letters  or  keeping  books. 

d.  You  will  be  expected  to  file  letters,  look  after  copies  of 
what  is  dictated,  make  indexes,  fill  in  and  send  out  form  letters 
at  the  proper  time  without  being  told,  except  at  the  beginning, 
look  after  order-books,  make  shipments  by  mail,  express,  or 
freight,  trace  lost  shipments,  see  that  orders  for  goods  or  sta- 
tionery the  firm  wants  are  filled  promptly,  etc.,  etc. 

e.  You  may,  if  you  are  in  a  small  office,  be  expected  to 
look  after  many  small  checks,  money  orders,  etc.,  that  come  in 
letters,  list  them  on  a  deposit  ticket  preparatory  to  going  to 
the  bank  with  them,  and  then  take  them  to  the  bank  and  have 
them  entered  on  the  bank  book.  There  are  many  little  details 
of  endorsement,  classifying,  etc.,  that  are  important. 

f.  There  will  be  blank  forms,  legal  forms,  invoices,  state- 
ments, tabulations,  etc.,  etc.,  to  make  for  various  purposes. 

g.  There  will  be  machines  to  run,  reference  books  to  use 
in  getting  information  of  various  kinds,  and  a  thousand  and 
one  little  points  which  you  will  be  asked  to  look  up. 

Will  you  look  blank  and  stupid  when  these  things  are  asked 
of  you  ?  Or  will  you  say,  "Oh,  I  know  how  to  do  that !"  and 
catch  the  idea  with  a  very  brief  explanation  instead  of  having 
to  be  told  three  or  four  times  over  before  you  get  the  thing 
right? 

Don't  be  too  sure  of  yourself,  don't  be  in  too  much  of  a 
hurry  to  do  the  thing  on  your  own  initiative,  for  at  the  best 
you  will  have  much  to  learn  after  you  get  started  in  actual 
business  practice.  It  is  always  better  to  ask  than  to  make  a 
bad  mistake  through  going  ahead  without  knowing  exactly 
what  you  ought  to  do.  Try  to  find  the  happy  medium — take 
some  chances,  but  not  too  many,  don't  look  like  a  fool  when  a 
new  task  is  suggested,  but  don't  be  in  too  great  a  hurry  to 
tackle  it.  Seek  and  find  the  golden  mean,  and  remember  that 
you  can't  know  too  much  —  and  you  must  always  go  on 
learning. 


10  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


r 


Now  ask  yourself  these  questions: 

Am  I  tidy — with  clean  hands,  clean  nails,  orderly  hair, 
clothes  brushed,  shoes  shined?  The  clean  and  wholesome  boy 
or  girl  is  worth  at  least  $2  a  week  more  on  that  account  alone. 

Do  I  take  enough  exercise  in  the  open  air,  bathe  fre- 
quently, and  eat  sensible  foods?  Lack  of  attention  to  these 
details  makes  one  heavy  and  stupid,  and  decreases  efficiency. 
In  the  course  of  six  months  or  a  year,  careful  attention  to 
these  matters  bearing  on  personal  efficiency  will  mean  an  in- 
crease in  salary  of  at  least  $2  a  week. 

Do  I  have  a  cheerful,  smiling  face,  and  am  I  ready  to  do 
quickly  and  readily  anything  that  may  be  asked  of  me,  even 
if  it  is  sweeping  the  office  floor  or  sewing  on  a  button  for  the 
office  boy?  The  cheerful,  alert,  willing  person  is  the  last  one 
to  be  laid  off  when  times  are  hard  or  business  slack.  Most 
men  want  to  get  rid  of  a  sour  countenance  at  the  first  oppor- 
tunity. 

Your  employer  will  even  know  whether  you  are  up  nights 
engaged  in  pleasure  or  resting  to  fit  yourself  for  the  next 
day's  work.  Trespassing  on  the  eight  hours  for  sleep  is  steal- 
ing from  your  employer  as  much  as  if  you  put  your  hand  in 
his  cash  drawer. 

There  is  one  other  thing  that  is  very  important.  Every  em- 
ployer lays  emphasis  on  the  word  "confidential."  Everything 
that  passes  in  any  business  office  is  confidential,  no  matter 
how  trivial  it  may  be.  '  Outside  the  office  you  should  forget 
business  entirely,  never  talk  of  it  with  friends  young  or  old,  in- 
terest yourself  in  the  pleasures  and  refinements  of  life,  and 
make  the  most  of  your  leisure.  Then  you  will  have  no  occa- 
sion even  to  mention  outside  what  goes  on  in  the  office,  not 
even  to  the  members  of  your  family. 

To  summarize,  then,  the  ideal  business  person  is  plain  in 
dress,  simple,  clean,  neat,  cheerful,  willing,  eager  to  be  of 
service  in  any  or  every  way  without  being  interfering  or  a 
nuisance,  a  faithful  worker  in  the  office,  able  to  enjoy  life  out 
of  the  office,  close-mouthed,  faithful,  and  able  to  go  ahead 
without  being  told. 


HOW   TO  ARRANGE   A   LETTER  11 

CHAPTER  II 
How  to  Arrange  a  Business  Letter  Attractively. 

Different  kinds  of  letters  need  to  be  arranged  in  different 
ways.  Usually  a  stenographer  has  one  way,  which  is  good 
for  one  sort  of  letter,  but  very  poorly  adapted  for  other  kinds. 

First,  set  the  marginal  stops  so  that  a  reasonable  margin 
is  left  on  either  side  of  the  standard  letter  sheet,  which  is 
8>^xll  inches.  This  means  five  extra  spaces  of  indentation 
on  either  side,  leaving  60  writing  spaces  in  the  middle  for  the 
large  size  of  typewriter  type  and  about  70  spaces  for  the  elite 
machines.  NEVER  write  all  the  way  across  the  page  so  the 
margins  are  reduced  to  half  an  inch  unless  there  is  some  very 
special  reason  for  doing  so. 

Uniform  white  space  all  around  the  typewritten  letter  is 
the  modern  ideal. 

For  letters  of  medium  length  the  best  style  is  single- 
spacing,  with  double  spaces  between  the  paragraphs  as  well 
as  before  and  after  the  salutation.     See  Fig,  1. 

On  different  letterheads  the  writing  should  begin  at  differ- 
ent distances  from  the  top  of  the  sheet.  Some  stenographers 
crowd  the  letter  all  the  way  to  the  top,  while  others  drop  the 
beginning  so  that  half  the  first  page  is  wasted.  The  happy 
medium  is  always  the  best. 

On  an  ordinary  medium  letterhead,  in  which  the  type  is 
centered  and  occupies  say  three-quarters  of  an  inch,  the  date 
shouW  be  put  close  to  the  type  and  two  to  five  blank  spaces 
should  be  left  before  beginning  the  name  of  the  person  ad- 
dressed. 

When  the  letterhead  is  a  small  corner  affair,  so  that  the 
date  cannot  be  put  near  the  type,  it  should  be  placed  at  the 
right  nearly  opposite  the  lowest  line  of  type.  Then  one  to 
three  blank  spaces  may  be  left  before  writing  the  name  of  the 
person  addressed. 


12  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


WANAMAKER.  CARSON.  FIELD  &  CO. 

ffCTAILCnS.  WHOLESAL^'VS.  MANUFACTURERS 

CHICAGO.  FA.  25.    1919. 


Mr.  J«ff«ron  P.  »ly, 

S513  Broad  St., 
Cleveland,  Oilo. 

Bear  Sir: 

We  hare  recelTed  your  request  for  a  quotation  on  King 
Holland  window  shades  to  be  used  as  translucent  screens  In  con- 
nection with  reflecting  lanterns,  as  well  as  shadss  aade  In  our 
best  opaque  white  shade  cloth. 

A  screen  60  Inches  wide  by  seven  feet  long,  aounted  on 
Hartshorn  rollsr,  and  prorldsd  with  brackets  for  mounting,  would 
cost  you  $1.50  In  lots  of  one  hundred  at  a  tins. 

Opaque  screens  seven  feet  square,  made  of  our  best  white 
opaque  shadecloth,  mounted  on  Hartshorn  roller  and  provided  with 
brackets  for  mounting,  would  cost  you  $2.25  each  in  lots  of  one 
hundred  at'  a  time. 

Wo  could  make  deliveries  In  from  a  week  to  ten  days 
after  order  was  received.  Each  screen  would  be  packed  separately 
In  heavy  paper.  We  could  also  arrange  to  pack  and  ship  thsm 
Individually  to  any  part  of  the  country.  If  you  wish  to  have  us 
maks  a  quotation  on  this  service  also. 

Will  you  kindly  Inform  us  about  When  you  expect  to  plaoe 
an  order  for  screens  of  this  sort?  If  It  Is  dselrable  we  nl^t 
have  our  New  York  representative  call  to  aee  you. 

In  any  case  we  hope  you  will  find  theae  quotations 
attractive. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Wanamaksr,  Carson,  71eld  k   Co., 

By 


Fig.  1. 


If  the  name  of  the  person  addressed  is  placed  at  the  end 
of  the  letter,  and  the  salutation  begins  the  main  part  of  the 
letter,  at  least  two  blank  spaces  should  be  left  below  the  date 
line,  or  the  body  of  the  letter  will  seem  crowded  against  the 
top.  Train  the  eye  to  secure  balance,  whatever  the  condi- 
tions may  be.  Getting  a  trained  eye  is  better  than  trying  to 
remember  rules. 


HOW   TO   ARRANGE   A    LETTER  13 


WANAMAKER.  CARSON,  FIELD  &  CO. 

nCTAILCRS    WHOCCSALEItS.  MANU'ACTURCnS 


CHICAGO.   Feb.   25,   19X9* 
Mr.  Jtffaraon  P.  Cly, 

Z513  Bra«d  St.,   Cl0T«l«nd,  Ohio. 
9*ar  Sir: 

w«  hare  a  ca^)l«  fron  our  Pari*  correapondant  Inforalnc 
ua  thJkt  ha  haa  thla  day  aallad  quotation  on  tha  corral  nackXace* 
for  ahlch  you  wera  Inquiring  not   long  ago. 

Aa  eoon  aa  hla  latter  la  recalvad  you  ahall  haar  fro« 
ua  furthar. 

Vary  truly  youra, 

VanawUar,   Caraoa,   Plaid  &  Co., 

By 
Fig.    2. 


Short  letters  should  be  uniformly  double-spaced,  but  in 
such  letters  quotations  may  be  single-spaced  and  indented. 
See  Figs.  2  and  3. 

If  a  letter  fills  more  than  one  page,  continue  it  on  a  blank 
sheet  of  the  same  kind  of  paper  as  the  letterhead,  or  a  special 
printed  sheet  intended  for  second  pages.  It  is  usually  best 
to  write  the  full  name  of  the  person  addressed  at  the  top  of 
the  second  page,  and  then  a  dash  and  the  figure  2.  Initials 
are  sometimes  used,  and  many  simply  write  the  figure  2;  but 
in  such  cases  there  is  always  danger  that  the  second  pages  of 
diflferent  letters  will  get  mixed.  When  the  full  name  is  written 
on  the  top  of  the  second  page  this  danger  is  removed. 

The  writing  at  the  top  of  the  second  page  may  be  dropped 
about  an  inch,  not  much  more,  and  not  much  less. 

Note-size  letter  paper,  sometimes  used  for  the  private  let- 
ters of  business  men,  is  rather  hard  to  get  through  the  type- 
writer so  it  does  not  pull  on  one  side  or  the  other,  owing  to 
the  stiflfness  of  the  fold.  For  such  letters  the  marginal  stops 
need  to  be  specially  set,  and  also  the  paper  guides. 

In  all  letters  try  to  make  the  ends  of  the  lines  as  even  as 


14  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


WANAMAKER.  CARSON,  FIELD  &  CO. 

Rf  TAlttBS,  WHOUCSALERa.  MANUFACTURERS 


CHICAGO.  lUrch  2,  1919. 

Mr.  7«rrarson  P.  tXy, 

8513  Broad  St.,  Clevaland,  Ohio. 

Dear  Sir: 

W«  have  Juat  racelved  froai  our  Parla  eorreapondant  th« 

followlne  quotation  on  the  corral  necklacea  deacrlbed  In  your 

letter  of  January  29: 

"Corral  necklaces  of  genuine  atonea  averaging  forty 
atllllnietres  In  dlasieter,  necklace  thirty-five  centimetres 
long,  In  lota  of  two  dozen  at  a  time,  three  hundred  franca 
each  If  made  up  of  perfect  stones  of  medium  light  pink  color, 
or  thirty-five  francs  each  If  of  selected  seconds  showing 
slight  flawa  and  varylnc  two  or  three  shades  lighter  or 
darker  than  the  standard." 

As  the  price  depends  eo  largely  on  the  Judgment  of 

the  buyer,  we  would  euggest  that  you  place  your  order  and  leav« 

the  matter  of  price  sometfhat  open,  depending  on  the  aklll  of  our 

Paris  buyer  to  secure  for  you  extra  value.  In  atones  which  his 

long  experience  has  shown  him  will  be  satisfactory  to  the  average 

retail  purchaser.   In  any  case  we  shall  be  glad  to  follow  your 

Instructions  as  closely  as  possible  If  you  will  place  an  order  wit 


Very  truly  yours, 

Vanamaker,  Carson,  Field  tc  Co., 

By 


Fig.    3. 


possible  by  returning  the  carriage  as  soon  as  the  bell  rings,  so 
the  righthand  side  of  the  letter  will  not  look  ragged. 

Be  sure  to  clean  your  type  every  day,  keep  a  good,  fresh 
ribbon  on  the  machine,  use  a  shield  in  making  erasures,  and 
very  carefully  avoid  anything  that  causes  an  untidy  appear- 


GETTING  OUT  A  DAY'S  DICTATION  15 

ance.  If  you  choose  the  color  of  the  ribbon,  try  to  get  a  color 
that  will  harmonize  with  the  color  of  the  paper.  Never  use 
disfigured  sheets  of  paper,  for  the  business  man  can  far  better 
afford  to  have  a  spoiled  sheet  thrown  away  than  to  risk  send- 
ing an  untidy  letter  to  a  customer  on  whom  business  depends. 
This  includes  sheets  used  for  carbons. 

An  even  touch  is  very  important  to  give  a  uniform  appear- 
ance to  a  letter,  and  it  is  important  that  the  platen  be  kept  in 
fresh  condition.  It  ought  to  be  renewed  once  a  year,  as  the 
rubber  gets  hard  and  the  type  will  not  print  clearly. 

CHAPTER  III       • 
Getting  Out  a  Day's  Dictation 

Learning  the  Style  of  the  Office.  When  you  get  a  posi- 
tion the  first  thing  to  do  is  to  find  out  just  how  letters  are 
written  in  that  particular  office.  This  you  can  readily  do  by 
looking  at  the  files  or  copybook. 

Are  all  names  preceded  by  Mr.,  Messrs.,  or  the  like? 

What  salutation  is  commonly  used,  and  what  punctuation 
follows  it? 

What  is  the  usual  complimentary  close  employed  by  the 
house? 

Are  the  initials  of  the  dictator  and  the  stenographer  on 
every  letter,  and  just  how  are  they  placed? 

Are  letters  numbered  for  reply,  are  they  signed  personally, 
or  is  the  reply  to  be  directed  to  a  certain  department? 

How  do  the  letters  usually  run  as  to  length,  and  what 
form  of  spacing  prevails? 

Note  the  answers  to  these  questions  on  a  slip  of  paper  for 
your  own  reference,  so  you  will  not  have  to  guess  or  look 
them  up  a  second  time. 

Getting  Familiar  with  the  'Typewriter.  Every  typewriter 
has  its  peculiarities  of  touch,  ribbon  movement,  spacing;  or  the 
like,  and  you  should  immediately  copy  a  few  letters  on  the 


16  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

machine,  so  you  will  catch  the  touch  of  the  carriage  move- 
ment, and  know  the  tension  is  right  for  you. 

The  best  way  is  to  copy  some  of  the  copies  of  letters  in  the 
file,  for  then  you  will  become  accustomed  to  the  dictation  you 
will  receive,  get  the  form  that  prevails  in  the  house,  all  at  the 
same  time  that  you  are  getting  used  to  the  machine. 

Ready  for  Dictation.  When  you  are  called  to  take  dicta- 
tion, be  sure  you  have  several  sharp  pencils — not  one,  but 
SEVERAL — so  if  you  break  one  you  will  not  waste  time 
sharpening  the  point.  Also  have  the  book  open  at  the  right 
place,  so  you  will  not  waste  time  finding  it. 

Pull  out  the  writing  slide  of  your  employer's  desk  and  sit 
very  quietly  for  him  to  begin.  Remember  that  he  is  engaged 
in  thinking  what  he  must  say  in  his  letters,  and  anything  that 
will  make  him  nervous  will  interfere  with  that  thought.  You 
should  therefore  be  as  quiet  as  possible,  never  drumming  or 
tapping  or  shuffling  your  feet,  or  wiggling  in  your  chair. 

Be  Sure  You  Understand  What  You  Write.  I  think  I 
have  seldom  had  a  stenographer  come  into  my  office  who  did 
not  begin  with  putting  into  nearly  every  letter  taken  down 
one  or  two  absurd  words  which  I  did  not  dictate,  and  when  I 
have  called  attention  to  them  I  have  heard  the  explanation, 
''Well,  that  is  what  I  thought  you  said  ?" 

"But  did  it  make  sense?" 

**I  didn't  understand  it  myself,  but  I  thought  it  was  all 
right  because  that  was  what  you  said." 

"IF  YOU  DON'T  UNDERSTAND  WHAT  IS  SAID 
IN  A  LETTER,  HOW  DO  YOU  SUPPOSE  THE  CUS- 
TOMER WILL  UNDERSTAND?  We  have  one  rule  in 
this  office  which  is  more  important  than  all  others.  It  is  this: 
NEVER  PUT  DOWN  ON  PAPER  A  WORD  YOU  DO 
NOT  FULLY  UNDERSTAND,  or  a  name  you  are  not  sure 
about.  You  are  expected  to  as]c  and  find  out  the  meaning  of 
anything  that  does  not  seem  to  you  entirely  obvious." 

Most  dictators  do  not  like  to  be  interrupted,  as  they  are 
likely  then  to  lose  the  train  of  their  thoughts.    If  when  you 


GETTING  OUT  A  DAY'S  DICTATION  17 

are  taking  dictation  you  are  not  sure  of  a  word,  make  a  wavy 
line  down  the  side  of  the  paper,  and  when  the  letter  is  finished, 
at  once  inquire  about  it ;  or  inquire  when  the  dictation  is  en- 
tirely finished.    It  is  best  to  ask  at  the  end  of  each  letter. 

Always  get  the  original  letter  and  read  it  over  before 
writing  out  your  letter.  Then  you  will  know  what  the  dic- 
tator ought  to  say. 

Names  and  Addresses.  Some  dictators  give  the  names  and 
addresses  of  the  persons  to  whom  they  are  writing,  while 
others  simply  number  the  letters,  putting  the  same  number 
on  the  letter  to  which  they  are  replying  and  letting  the 
stenographer  get  the  name  and  address  from  that  letter.  The 
best  way  is  to  ask  the  dictator  to  hand  you  the  letter  when  he 
finishes  dictating  the  answer,  and  then  you  can  yourself  place 
on  the  letter  the  number  which  you  have  already  placed  at  the 
beginning  of  the  dictated  reply.  Then  you  can  be  sure  the 
numbers  correspond. 

When  names  and  addresses  are  dictated,  be  sure  you  get 
the  spelling  of  the  names  accurately,  and  are  sure  about  the 
street  numbers.  Letters  that  are  not  replies  to  other  letters 
will  have  to  be  taken  in  this  manner. 

When  you  are  preparing  to  write  out  your  letter,  it  is 
often  a  trifle  difficult  to  make  out  the  right  name  and  ad- 
dress. The  handwriting  of  the  signature  may  be  illegible. 
Usually  you  can  find  the  initials  in  the  lower  left-hand  corner. 
Always  look  there,  or  elsewhere  on  the  letter,  for  initials  in 
case  of  doubt. 

Never  address  a  letter  to  a  large  city  without  the  street 
number  or  building.  When  you  lay  before  your  employer 
an  envelope  with  the  address  "John  Smith,  New  York  City," 
you  may  know  in  advance  that  that  is  wrong,  even  if  you 
cannot  find  the  street  number  on  the  letter.  In  such  cases 
you   must  inquire  about  the  address. 

In  case  of  a  few  large  houses,  no  street  number  is  required. 

Sometimes  you  will  find  on  the  letterhead  several  diflFerent 
addresses.    In  such  cases  you  look  for  the  city  froni  which  the 


16  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

machine,  so  you  will  catch  the  touch  of  the  carriage  move- 
ment, and  know  the  tension  is  right  for  you. 

The  best  way  is  to  copy  some  of  the  copies  of  letters  in  the 
file,  for  then  you  will  become  accustomed  to  the  dictation  you 
will  receive,  get  the  form  that  prevails  in  the  house,  all  at  the 
same  time  that  you  are  getting  used  to  the  machine. 

Ready  for  Dictation.  When  you  are  called  to  take  dicta- 
tion, be  sure  you  have  several  sharp  pencils — not  one,  but 
SEVERAL — so  if  you  break  one  you  will  not  waste  time 
sharpening  the  point.  Also  have  the  book  open  at  the  right 
place,  so  you  will  not  waste  time  finding  it. 

Pull  out  the  writing  slide  of  your  employer's  desk  and  sit 
very  quietly  for  him  to  begin.  Remember  that  he  is  engaged 
in  thinking  what  he  must  say  in  his  letters,  and  anything  that 
will  make  him  nervous  will  interfere  with  that  thought.  You 
should  therefore  be  as  quiet  as  possible,  never  drumming  or 
tapping  or  shuffling  your  feet,  or  wiggling  in  your  chair. 

Be  Sure  You  Understand  What  You  Write.  I  think  I 
have  seldom  had  a  stenographer  come  into  my  office  who  did 
not  begin  with  putting  into  nearly  every  letter  taken  down 
one  or  two  absurd  words  which  I  did  not  dictate,  and  when  I 
have  called  attention  to  them  I  have  heard  the  explanation, 
"Well,  that  is  what  I  thought  you  said  ?" 

"But  did  it  make  sense?" 

"I  didn't  understand  it  myself,  but  I  thought  it  was  all 
right  because  that  was  what  you  said." 

"IF  YOU  DON'T  UNDERSTAND  WHAT  IS  SAID 
IN  A  LETTER,  HOW  DO  YOU  SUPPOSE  THE  CUS- 
TOMER WILL  UNDERSTAND?  We  have  one  rule  in 
this  office  which  is  more  important  than  all  others.  It  is  this: 
NEVER  PUT  DOWN  ON  PAPER  A  WORD  YOU  DO 
NOT  FULLY  UNDERSTAND,  or  a  name  you  are  not  sure 
about.  You  are  expected  to  asj?  and  find  out  the  meaning  of 
anything  that  does  not  seem  to  you  entirely  obvious." 

Most  dictators  do  not  like  to  be  interrupted,  as  they  arc 
likely  then  to  lose  the  train  of  their  thoughts.    If  when  you 


GETTING  OUT  A  DAY'S  DICTATION  17 

are  taking  dictation  you  are  not  sure  of  a  word,  make  a  wavy 
line  down  the  side  of  the  paper,  and  when  the  letter  is  finished, 
at  once  inquire  about  it;  or  inquire  when  the  dictation  is  en- 
tirely finished.     It  is  best  to  ask  at  the  end  of  each  letter. 

Always  get  the  original  letter  and  read  it  over  before 
writing  out  your  letter.  Then  you  will  know  what  the  dic- 
tator ought  to  say. 

Names  and  Addresses.  Some  dictators  give  the  names  and 
addresses  of  the  persons  to  whom  they  are  writing,  while 
others  simply  number  the  letters,  putting  the  same  number 
on  the  letter  to  which  they  are  replying  and  letting  the 
stenographer  get  the  name  and  address  from  that  letter.  The 
best  way  is  to  ask  the  dictator  to  hand  you  the  letter  when  he 
finishes  dictating  the  answer,  and  then  you  can  yourself  place 
on  the  letter  the  number  which  you  have  already  placed  at  the 
beginning  of  the  dictated  reply.  Then  you  can  be  sure  the 
numbers  correspond. 

When  names  and  addresses  are  dictated,  be  sure  you  get 
the  spelling  of  the  names  accurately,  and  are  sure  about  the 
street  numbers.  Letters  that  are  not  replies  to  other  letters 
will  have  to  be  taken  in  this  manner. 

When  you  are  preparing  to  write  out  your  letter,  it  is 
often  a  trifle  difficult  to  make  out  the  right  name  and  ad- 
dress. The  handwriting  of  the  signature  may  be  illegible. 
Usually  you  can  find  the  initials  in  the  lower  left-hand  corner. 
Always  look  there,  or  elsewhere  on  the  letter,  for  initials  in 
case  of  doubt. 

Never  address  a  letter  to  a  large  city  without  the  street 
number  or  building.  When  you  lay  before  your  employer 
an  envelope  with  the  address  "John  Smith,  New  York  City," 
you  may  know  in  advance  that  that  is  wrong,  even  if  you 
cannot  find  the  street  number  on  the  letter.  In  such  cases 
you  must  inquire  about  the  address. 

In  case  of  a  few  large  houses,  no  street  number  is  required 

Sometimes  you  will  find  on  the  letterhead  several  different 
addresses.    In  such  cases  you  look  for  the  city  froni  which  the 


20  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

the  meaning  clearer,  and  never  omit  one  that  may  leave  the 
meaning  obscure  or  difficult  to  follow." 

Stenographers  are  alw^ays  expected  to  correct  distinct 
errors  of  grammar,  but  it  is  seldom  safe  to  change  the  actual 
wording  except  in  such  a  way  that  the  dictator  is  not  likely  to 
notice  it.  Any  stenographer  who  undertook  to  revise  the 
slang  a  business  man  has  dictated  and  substitute  perfectly 
proper  expressions  would  not  long  be  tolerated.  The  dictator 
usually  knows  what  he  wants  to  say,  and  about  how  he  wants 
to  say  it;  but  he  does  like  to  have  his  little  slips  and  inad- 
vertencies corrected  if  the  correction  does  not  alter  the 
meaning  or  diminish  the  force  of  the  expression. 

Reading  Back.  Promptness  in  finding  any  passage  that 
has  been  dictated  and  in  reading  it  back  will  always  make  a 
hit  with  the  dictator,  and  the  best  way  to  be  able  to  do  this 
readily  is  to  spend  all  the  waiting  time  you  have  in  looking 
over  the  notes  just  taken  down,  so  you  can  decide  in  your 
own  mind  on  the  paragraphing,  sentences,  etc.,  and  get  the 
general  drift  of  the  meaning.  The  waits  are  good  times  also 
for  making  sure  you  have  the  names  correct.  Looking  these 
things  over  while  they  are  fresh  in  mind  will  help  you  to  fix 
them  so  you  will  remember  them  longer,  and  will  greatly 
shorten  the  time  needed  to  get  out  dictation. 

Preparing  Letters  for  Signature  and  Mailing.  Each  letter 
should  be  slipped  under  the  flap  of  the  envelope,  the  addressed 
side  of  the  envelope  uppermost,  and  the  pile  of  letters  thus 
laid  ready  for  signature.  ^ 

If  there  are  any  inclosures,  be  sure  to  put  them  in  the 
envelopes  at  the  time  the  letters  are  written  and  the  envelopes 
addressed.  It  is  never  safe  to  trust  the  memory  to  go  back 
and  do  that  after  all  are  finished.  Or  else  plainly  mark  the 
inclosures  on  a  folder. 

If  catalogues  or  the  like  are  to  go  under  separate  cover, 
prepare  those  at  once,  addressing  the  necessary  envelopes 
and  placing  them  ready  for  mailing. 

In  the  case  of  foreign  letters,  always   mark  the  correct 


GETTING  OUT  A  DAY'S  DICTATION  21 

postage  on  the  corner  of  the  envelope  where  the  stamp  will 
go  as  a  reminder  to  the  person,  who  stamps  the  letters  that 
this  is  not  in  the  regular  class.  When  postage  on  letters  tc 
foreign  countries  is  not  fully  prepaid,  double  the  amount-  i^ 
collected  at  the  other  end,  and  paying  double  postage,  you 
may  be  sure,  is  very  annoying.  Americans  are  said  to  be 
particularly  careless  about  their  foreign  postage,  and  no 'doubt 
they  have  lost  millions  of  dollars*  worth  of  foreign  business  or 
account  of  it.  Mail  other  than  letters  will  not  be  forwarded 
at  all  unless  the  postage  is  fully  prepaid. 

Great  care  in  getting  the  mail  out  accurately  as  well  as 
rapidly  will  always  redound  to  the  credit  of  any  stenographer. 
and  it  is  a  matter  well  worth  taking  pains  about. 

Signing  Letters.  Whoever  signs  letters  should  make  the 
signature  legible  or  quit.  Unreadable  signatures  are  the 
curse  of  American  business. 

How  to  Fold  a  Letter.  Fold  the  bottom  edge  half  an  inch 
short  of  the  top.  Make  two  folds  from  left  to  right  so  that 
the  right-hand  side  of  the  paper  will  project  half  an  inch 
over  the  folded  edge.  You  will  find  that  a  half-inch  square  in 
the  upper  right-hand  corner  will  remain  uncovered  and  if 
you  grasp  the  letter  with  your  thumb  on  that  point  it  will 
shake  out  instantly  right  side  up. 

Accuracy  vs.  Speed.  The  accurate  and  careful  stenographer 
will  always  have  a  job.  however  slow.  That  is  a  certainty. 
The  careless  stenographer  will  soon  have  to  look  for  another 
position.  The  stenographer  who  is  both  accurate  and  rapid 
will  get  the  best  salary  and  soon  develop  into  a  true  private 
^^ecretary.     That  also  is  certain. 

But  accuracy  comes  first.  Without  it  you  cannot  even  say 
you  have  a  foothold  in  the  business  world. 


22  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

CHAPTER  IV 
Office  Appliances 

The  Typewriter.  It  is  the  duty  of  a  stenographer  or  secre- 
tary to  keep  his  or  her  typewriter  clean  and  supplied  with  a 
fresh  ribbon.  System  in  attending  to  this  is  important.  Dirty 
type  should  not  be  tolerated,  and  oiling  and  wiping  with  cotton 
waste  or  cloth  is  necessary  to  make  sure  the  machine  works 
freely.  When  the  carriage  sticks  it  is  usually  dirt  that  causes  it. 

A  typewriter  should  be  run  with  as  low  a  tension  as  pos- 
sible if  the  letters  do  not  pile  up  on  top  of  each  other.  If  the 
tension  is  too  high  the  operator  will  weary  more  quickly,  and 
the  machine  will  get  out  of  order  more  surely. 

A  habit  should  be  formed  of  using  the  tabulator  for  para- 
graphing, for  the  date  line,  and  for  the  complimentary  close. 

When  the  paper  slips,  the  rubber  platen  usually  needs 
washing  off  with  benzine. 

When  a  part  is  broken,  or  the  machine  seems  distinctly 
out  of  order,  a  typewriter  repair  man  should  be  called  without 
delay.     Do  this  yourself.    Don't  leave  it  to  somebody  else. 

Special  practice  should  be  concentrated  on  these  points : 
.  Using  the  variable  spacer; 

Releasing  the  paper  so  that  it  can  be  moved  about  a  little ; 

Changing  the  marginal  stops  quickly  and  accurately ; 

Using  the  scales  so  as  to  place  words  or  letters  accurately; 

Holding  the  carriage  so  as  to  insert  a  letter  a  little  closer 
or  farther  from  another  letter,  as  when  a  space  is  desired  be- 
tween two  letters  that  have  been  run  together; 

Putting  on  a  fresh  ribbon.  These  points  can.  best  be 
taught  by  a  demonstrator  on  the  machine. 

Filling  In  Form  Letters.  One  of  the  first  duties  of  a  good 
typewriter  operator  usually  is  to  fill  in  the  name  and  address 
on  a  facsimile  typewritten  letter  so  as  to  get  a  good  match, 
and  do  it  with  great  rapidity. 


OFFICE  APPLIANCES  23 

The  first  requisite  for  a  good  match  is  to  get  on  the  ma- 
chine a  special  matching  ribbon.  If  the  facsimile  is  bright 
and  strong,  a  new  ribbon  will  be  required ;  but  if  it  is  not 
strong,  a  worn  ribbon  will  be  needed.  In  the  case  of  multi- 
graph  letters  it  is  often  best  to  cut  a  piece  of  ribbon  off  the 
side  of  the  wide  multigraph  ribbon.  This  may  be  used  as  a 
last  resort. 

Then  the  operator  must  have  considerable  practice  to  get 
the  touch  heavy  or  light  as  the  case  may  require.  A  good 
operator  by  varying  the  touch  will  overcome  the  defect  of  an 
unsuitable  ribbon.  Varying  the  touch  is  a  thing  that  must 
be  learned  by  practice. 

In  order  to  get  the  paper  into  the  machine  rapidly  and 
accurately,  the  best  way  is  to  try  a  few  letters  to  see  how  the 
edge  of  the  type  at  the  left  comes  with  reference  to  the  start- 
ing point  for  the  name  (to  get  a  true  vertical  margin),  and 
when  this  is  right  note  how  the  edge  of  the  paper  comes  with 
reference  to  the  end  of  the  platen  or  some  attachment  on  the 
machine.  Then  you  can  put  the  paper  in  the  machine  so  that 
the  edge  exactly  corresponds  to  the  marker  on  the  machine 
which  you  have  selected  and  the  first  letter  you  write  will 
be  exactly  on  the  lefthand  margin. 

When  the  letter  has  been  put  in  the  machine  it  must  be 
turned  rapidly. up  to  the  first  line  of  type.  By  using  the  paper 
release  this  first  line  of  type  can  be  adjusted  exactly  parallel 
to  the  scale  on  the  platen,  and  then  the  paper  must  be  turned 
back  the  proper  number  of  spaces  so  that  the  name  will  be 
written  at  the  righ*  point.  Many  efforts  have  been  made  to 
avoid  pulling  the  letter  sheet  about,  but  that  is  the  only  way 
that  good  work  can  be  secured. 

The  date  should  be  printed  on  the  letters,  and  when  you 
know  the  correct  number  of  letters  with  "Dear  Sir,"  "Gentle- 
men," and  "Dear  Aladam"  you  can  have  these  salutations 
printed  also.  On  the  multigraph,  however,  the  short  lines 
print  heavier  than  the  long  ones,  and  a  good  match  requires 
that  the  short  line  salutation  be  written  on  the  typewriter. 


24  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

Sometimes  the  name  and  address  are  written  in  red,  so 
that  no  matching  is  required. 

Mimeographing.  The  mimeograph  prints  facsimile  type- 
written letters  by  means  of  a  stencil  of  wax-coated  paper 
through  which  the  letters  are  cut  by  writing  on  the  stencil 
sheet  with  the  typewriter. 

The  ribbon  must  be  thrown  back  and  disconnected,  so  that 
the  type  strikes  directly  on  the  thin  fibre  protecting  sheet. 

It  is  important  to  see  that  all  the  types  are  quite  clean. 
Any  dirt  in  such  letters  as  a,  s,  e,  o,  n,  m,  or  the  like  should 
be  carefully  picked  out  with  a  pin,  and  all  the  letters  should 
be  brushed. 

The  stroke  of  the  type  should  be  heavier  than  usual,  but 
not  too  heavy.  The  right  stroke  or  touch  must  be  learned 
by  practice.  A  stroke  too  heavy  will  cut  the  letters  out  alto- 
gether, while  a  stroke  too  light  will  not  make  a  stencil  that 
will   print  clearly. 

As  it  is  difficult  to  make  work  correct,  great  care  should 
be  taken  to  be  sure  the  stencil  is  right  from  the  start.  A 
careful  typewritten  copy,  with  no  corrections,  each  line  ex- 
actly as  the  mimeograph  should  appear,  is  a  guide  worth 
having,  and  such  a  copy  should  always  be  made. 

Any  cracks  or  breaks  in  the  waxed  paper  should  be  var- 
nished over  with  mimeograph  varnish,  or  covered  with  bits 
of  paper  pasted  on  with  the  varnish. 

Care  with  the  inking  is  necessary  to  get  an  impression 
neither  too  heavy  nor  too  light. 

Special  mimeograph  paper  that  will  absorb  the  ink  quickly 
should  be  used  for  mimeograph  prints,  and  if  the  sheets  offset 
(or  ink  from  one  sheet  to  the  next)  blotters  should  be  laid 
between. 

The  sheets  should  be  fed  into  the  machine  carefully,  close 
to  the  guides,  so  that  the  typewriting  will  appear  uniform 
on  the  paper. 

The  Multigraph,  Writer  Press,  Flexotype,  etc.,  are  ma- 
chines that  print  typewriter  type  set  up  as  complete  letters 
through  regular  typewriter  ribbons. 


OFFICE  APPLIANCES  25 

Getting  these  machines  adjusted  so  they  will  give  a  per- 
fectly uniform  impression,  not  heavier  at  the  edges  and  lighter 
in  the  middle,  or  heavier  in  some  spots  and  lighter  in  others, 
requires  considerable  practice  and  ingenuity.  The  important 
thing  for  the  secretary  is  to  see  these  defects  and  cause  them 
to  be  remedied,  through  exercising  proper  inspection  over 
others. 

Phonograph  Dictation.  When  letters  are  dictated  to  a 
phonograph  they  are  recorded  on  a  wax  cylinder,  which  is 
taken  ofif  and  put  into  a  special  pasteboard  box  and  with 
others  sent  out  to  the  phonograph  operator,  who  puts  the 
cylinder  on  his  or  her  machine  and  transcribes  from  the  re- 
produced sound. 

In  the  first  place,  the  dictation  must  be  good.  The  cylinders 
or  "cones"  must  be  smoothly  pared  so  they  do  not  ''grumble'* 
in  the  machine.  The  operator  should  hold  the  mouthpiece 
always  against  his  lips  so  that  he  feels  it  touch,  or  otherwise 
he  will  turn  his  head  a  little  one  way  or  another  and  some 
words  will  be  lost.  The  dictation  must  be  clearly  enunciated. 
Then  the  operator  must  get  accustomed  to  the  voice  before 
good  work  can  be  done. 

The  great  difficulty  with  phonograph  dictation  is  making 
changes  or  corrections.  There  is  a  scale,  and  wherever  a 
correction  is  to  be  inserted  a  checkmark  should  be  made  on 
the  small  scale  stamped  on  the  letter  or  sheet  of  paper  con- 
taining the  name  and  address.  At  that  point  the  operator 
will  then  look  out  for  the  correction  before  going  ahead  with 
the  writing  of  what  was  originally  dictated. 

A  vertical  line  may  be  drawn  at  the  point  on  the  scale 
where  one  letter  ends  and  another  begins,  so  that  the  operator 
will  see  at  the  start  whether  it  is  to  be  a  long  letter  or  a 
short  letter. 

When  letters  are  answered,  the  original  letters  should  be 
stamped  with  the  proper  notations  and  sent  out  to  the  oper- 
ator, who  will  take  the  names  and  addresses  directly  from  the 
original  letters.     When  the  letter  dictated  is  not  an  answer 


26  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

the  full  name  and  address  may  be  written  on  a  sheet  of  paper 
with  the  notations  as  a  guide  to  the  operator.  Then  the  op- 
erator will  begin  by  saying  Lefter  No.  so-and-so,  or  Letter 
to  so-and-so.  If  a  letter  is  not  finished  at  the  end  of  the  cone, 
on  beginning  the  next  cone  the  dictator  should  say,  "Con- 
tinuation of  letter  to  so-and-so." 

Each  cone  box  has  a  letter  of  the  alphabet  or  number  which 
should  be  written  on  the  original  letter  or  paper  containing 
the  notation  so  that  the  operator  can  at  any  time  find  the  right 
cone  for  a  given  letter. 

The  most  important  rule  of  all  for  the  operator  is,  USE 
YOUR  COMMON  SENSE.  The  operator  should  be  sure  that 
what  she  puts  on  paper  will  make  sense,  and  if  what  has  been 
dictated  sounds  like  something  ridiculous,  that  should  be  no 
reason  for  putting  down  that  ridiculous  thing.  A  little  thought 
will  suggest  what  must  have  been  intended. 

While  the  enunciators  hanging  in  the  ears  and  the  grating 
of  the  machine  may  cause  nervousness  for  a  time,  that  will 
gradually  wear  away,  and  transcribii;g  can  be  done  at  a  high 
rate  of  speed.  The  speed  of  the  machine  should  be  adjusted  so 
that  it  is  a  little  faster  than  the  operator  can  write.  In  this 
way  speed  may  be  gained.  That  which  does  not  seem  to  make 
sense  should  be  gone  over  again,  and  even  yet  again,  till  the 
operator  can  make  out  what  was  said.  As  in  most  things, 
patience  is  the  key  to  success. 

Letter  Copies.  Every  letter  that  goes  out  of  an  office 
should  have  a  copy  to  be  kept  on  file  for  reference. 

The  old-fashioned  way  of  making  copies  of  pen-written 
letters  was  by  the  letter  press.  The  letters  were  written  with 
copying  ink  (a  special  kind),  and  when  ready  for  mailing  were 
laid  in  the  letter  book,  face  up,  and  the  tissue  page  turned 
over  it.  Then  a  wet  cloth  was  laid  on  top  of  the  tissue 
sheet,  and  over  that  a  protection  sheet  to  keep  the  water  from 
soaking  into  the  letter  above.  On  this  another  letter  was  laid 
and  the  tissue  turned  down  over  it,  another  wet  cloth  laid  on 
that,  with  another  protection  sheet;  and  so  on  till  as  many 


OFFICE  APPLIANCES  27 

letters  as  possible  were  in  the  book.  Then  it  was  placed  in 
the  press  and  screwed  down  tight.  After  a  few  minutes  it  was 
taken  out,  the  letters,  wet  cloths  and  protection  sheets  re- 
moved, and  the  copies  would  be  found  remaining  on  the  tissue. 
These  letters  were  then  entered  in  the  index  book  by  the  name 
and  reference  to  the  page  of  the  copybook  on  which  the  im- 
pression had  been  left.  The  wet  letters  had  to  be  left  to  dry  a 
little  before  being  put  in  the  envelopes,  or  the  moisture  would 
loosen  the  seals  of  the  envelope. 

Next  came  the  roller  copier,  in  which  the  letter  with  the 
wet  cloth  over  a  continuous  tissue  sheet  was  run  between 
rollers  like  those  of  a  clothes  wringer,  and  the  tissues  were 
cut  off  and  pinned  to  the  backs  of  the  letters  they  answered. 
In  this  way  the  copies  of  the  answers  were  to  be  found  in 
the  same  place  as  the  original  letters,  instead  of  being  looked 
up  in  a  separate  book. 

Both  of  these  methods  have  been  very  largely  superseded 
by  the  use  of  carbon  copies.  When  a  letter  is  written  on 
the  typewriter  a  carbon  is  made  and  pinned  to  the  back  of 
the  letter  answered,  and  both  are  filed  in  a  vertical  filing 
cabinet. 

Carbon  Copies.  A\'hen  one  carbon  copy  only  is  required 
a  sheet  of  manila  paper  is  most  commonly  used.  When 
several  carbons  are  to  be  made  special  thin  paper  is  required, 
and  the  greater  the  number  of  carbons  the  thinner  must  the 
paper  be.  Five  good  carbons  is  about  the  limit  possible,  even 
with  very  thin  paper,  and  with  ordinary  paper  three  carbons 
is  the  working  limit. 

When  several  carbons  are  to  be  made  a  backing  sheet 
may  be  folded  down  over  the  head  of  the  original  and  all 
the  carbon  sheets,  so  there  will  be  a  clean,  smooth  edge  to  go 
into  the  typewriter. 

A  heavy  touch  is  required  when  several  carbons  are  to  be 
made.  Care  should  be  taken  in  putting  the  paper  into  the 
typewriter  to  see  that  the  backs  of  the  carbon  sheets  are 
toward  the  type.    The  best  way  is  to  lay  out  the  paper,  with 


28  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

the  carbon  sheets  face  up.  Then  insert  them  in  the  machine 
with  the  black  face  toward  the  operator.  A  fixed  habit  in 
this  regard  will  obviate  blunders. 

Carbon  copies  of  contract  letters  to  be  complete  should  be 
signed  the  same  as  the  originals.  The  letter  press  is  some- 
times preferred  because  it  shows  the  signature  as  well  as  the 
body  of  the  letter. 

Other  Machines.  Adding  machines  are  now  coming  into 
general  use  and  deserve  special  attention.  Prolonged  practice 
such  as  is  required  on  the  typewriter  is  necessary  for  success. 

Envelope  sealers  are  used  in  large  mail-order  houses  and 
where  circular  work  is  sent  out. 

Letter  folding  machines  and  multigraph  printing  machines 
are  also  sometimes  used.  In  all  cases  the  manufacturers  sup- 
ply special  books  of  instruction. 


CHAPTER  V 

Business  Papers 

The  simplest  form  of  bookkeeping  is  the  cash  account. 
Every  boy  or  girl,  man  or  woman,  should  keep  a  personal 
account  of  receipts  and  expenditures,  in  a  little  pocket  account 
book ;  and  the  private  secretary  or  confidential  stenographer 
will  usually  find  it  necessary  to  keep  a  little  cash  account  of 
money  instrusted  by  the  manager  for  carfare,  special  office 
supplies,  etc.  Sometimes  these  little  sums  of  money  do  not 
seem  worth  bothering  about  and  no  account  is  kept  of  them. 
One  day  the  manager  will  say,  "What  did  you  do  with  that 
quarter  I  gave  you  last  w^eek?"  He  has  forgotten  that  you 
gave  ten  cents  of  it  to  the  office  boy  for  carfare,  and  is 
surprised  when  you  say  you  have  only  fifteen  cents  left.  If 
everything  is  recorded  in  a  book,  no  doubt  will  exist  in  his 
mind,  and  you  get  credit  for  being  a  careful  and  exact  person. 
The  habit  of  keeping  an  exact  account  of  all  small  expendi- 


BUSINESS  PAPERS 


29 


tures,  either  for  oneself  or  another,  is  perhaps  the  most  dis- 
tinctive mark  of  a  good  private  secretary. 

Cash  Books  will  have  these  words  stamped  on  the  cover, 
and  the  pages  inside  will  be  ruled  as  follows : 


Fig.    4,      Ruling   for   Cash   Account 


30  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

The  first  column  is  for  the  date,  the  second  or  wide  space 
is  for  the  item  entered,  the  next  pair  of  columns  is  for  dollars 
and  cents  to  be  debited,  and  the  pair  of  columns  after  the 
double  rule  is  for  dollars  and  cents  to  be  credited.  Money 
received  is  entered  in  the  Dr.  column,  money  paid  out  in  the 
Cr.  column.  This  is  arbitrary  usage  from  immemorial  past 
time.  Whatever  is  left  on  hand  at  any  time  should  be  entered 
in  the  Cr.  column  or  column  of  expenditures  as  "Cash  to 
balance,"  and  then  the  two  columns  should  add  up  exactly 
the  same.     If  they  do  not  "balance"  an  error  has  been  .made. 

Invoices 

When  goods  are  sold  in  a  large  or  formal  way,  especially 
when  there  are  several  items,  all  the  items  and  prices  are 
written  in  a  list  on  a  special  form  called  a  "bill"  or  "invoice." 
If  cash  is  paid  at  time  of  delivery  the  bill  is  receipted  or 
marked  "paid."  Usually  the  bill  is  employed  when  goods  are 
not  paid  for,  and  it  serves  as  a  memorandum  of  the  charge 
of  all  the  items,  only  the  total  being  entered  in  the  ledger. 

Three  different  forms  of  billheads  are  in  general  use.  The 
old-fashioned  form  reads  (Name  and  address  of  buyer)  "To 
(name  of  firm  selling)  Dr.,"  meaning  in  simple  language  that 
John  Jones  is  a  debtor  to  James  Smith.  Another  form  reads 
(Name  and  address  of  buyer)  "Bought  of  (name  of  firm  sell- 
ing)"; while  the  third  form  gives  the  name  of  the  selling  firm 
in  large  type  in  the  center,  and  then  at  one  side  in  smaller  type 
are  the  words  "sold  to,"  followed  by  the  name  and  address 
of  the  buyer.  The  terms  of  sale  are  also  usually  written 
in  a  blank  space  on  the  billhead,  and  there  are  various  small 
blanks  for  different  order  numbers.  As  invoices  are  to  be 
carefully  distinguished  from  various  shipping  memorandums 
and  from  "statements,"  the  wording  as  indicated  above  is 
important.  Look  for  the  wording  given  above  and  you  will 
then  instantly  know  whether  you  have  in  hand  an  invoice 
or  not. 

In  wholesale  billing  the  catalogue  or  pricelist  number  of 


BUSINESS  PAPERS  31 

the  article  is  universally  indispensable.  In  retail  billing  no 
article  number  is  used  except  in  catalogue  mail  order  business, 
but  the  charge  slip  number  is  required. 

Checking   Invoices 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  private  secretary  to  check  all  invoices 
for  supplies  and  other  goods  sent  direct  to  the  manager, 
whether  for  his  private  use  or  for  firm  use. 

When  printing,  stationery,  or  supplies  of  any  kind  are 
ordered,  the  order  should  be  in  writing.  An  order  form  in  a 
special  book  is  the  best  way  in  which  to  keep  track  of  orders, 
and  usually  if  the  secretary  or  assistant  will  ask  the  manager 
to  supply  such  a  book  it  will  be  secured  at  once.  Such  books 
are  in  duplicate  so  that  a  carbon  copy  is  made.  The  copy  is 
kept  on  file  and  the  original  order  is  sent  for  the  goods. 

If  there  is  no  special  order  book,  a  letter  should  be  written 
and  the  carbon  copy  kept  on  the  desk  of  the  secretary  until 
the  goods  come  in. 

When  they  are  received  an  invoice  should  either  accompany 
them  or  will  be  mailed  in  later. 

The  first  duty  of  the  secretary  is  to  find  out  whether  that 
invoice  has  come  in  as  it  should,  and  if  it  has  not  come  to 
telephone  the  sellers  of  the  goods  and  get  a  duplicate. 

With  the  invoice  in  hand,  first  compare  it  with  the  written 
order,  and  examine  the  goods  to  see  that-  all  the  items  are 
there  as  ordered  and  charged.  Count  the  number,  and  make 
sure  the  goods  are  in  good  condition. 

If  everything  appears  to  be  all  right,  mark  the  invoice 
"O.  K."  with  your  initials.  See  if  the  manager  wishes  to  put 
his  O.  K.  on  it  also  and  send  it  at  once  to  the  accounting 
department  to  be  paid.  Here  it  will  be  kept  on  file  till  the 
"statement"  comes  in,  when  it  will  be  checked  with  the  cor- 
responding item  in  the  statement,  along  with  any  other 
bills,  some  of  which  m.ay  come  from  entirely  different  depart- 
ments. If  the  O.  K.'d  bill  is  on  file,  the  account  will  be  paid 
without  any  further  inquiry. 


32 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


z 
o 
« 

a 
u 


i   ! 


0    s 

„  0  « 

oio   S^   ""o 


O 


BUSINESS  PAPERS 


33 


Credit   Memorandum 

In  case  goods  are  returned,  or  an  allowance  in  price  is 
made  because  of  damage,  or  the  like,  a  "Credit  Memorandum'^ 
should  always  be  obtained  at  the  time.  This  is  in  form  like  an 
invoice  or  statement,  but  always  has  on  it  the  words  ''Credit 
Memorandum*'  in  place  of  "Statement  from."  It  should  be 
checked  and  O.  K.'d  just  like  an  invoice,  and  sent  to  the  ac- 
counting department  for  use  in  checking  the  statement. 


R  Order  no 
I  Order  No 


WANAMAKER.  CARSON,  FIELD  &.  CO. 

RETAILERS.  WHOLESALERS    MANUFACTURERS 


19    BROAOWAT. 


Wholesale 
Department 


Sold  to 


CHICAGO.    APRIL  25,   1919. 


MESSRS.   CLARK  &  WILSOH- 
3646  WEST  MADISON  ST., 
CHICAGO.    ILL. 


2  05  /2   CUT    STRG    BEANS 

1  OS  #1    SLICE   PINEAPPLE 

1  CS  MEO    PEANUT    BUTTER 

1  CS  MEO   JAR   SLICE  BEEF 
6  BXS  BULK    LUMP  STARCH 

2  CS  EAGLE  CONO    MILK 

1  CS  UNDERWOODS  J  MUST    SABOINES. 

1  08  VEEKO  SML   LEMON  JUICE 

30  LB  CONT  HIRSCH    POTATO   CHIPS 


4 

4 

2 

2 

250 

2 

1 

3 

30 


1  10 
1    50 

1  45 

2  00 
2  98 
6  50 
4  70 
1    10 

ISi 


2  90 
4  00 
7  45 


3  30 
5  55 


|23  20 


4   40 
6   00 


13  00 
4   70 


28  10 


Fig.   6.     Wholesale  Invoice. 


Statements 

It  is  customary  at  the  end  of  each  month  to  send  a  list  of 
all  the  invoices  rendered  during  the  preceding  month.     This 


34 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


STATEMENT 


H.  G.  ADAIR 
Commercial  Printing 

MACHINE  COMPOSITION 
PUBCICATIONS 

lftO.154  W.  Lake  St..  Cor.  LaSalU  ^^'"'•'\a21».%^%3  CHICAGO 


S^ 


^^ 


Oi. 


Aji^: 


/5^ 


?= 


•V3 


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^ 


^ 


2:X5 


/^<^ 


Fig.   7.      Statement   with    Credit 


BUSINESS  PAPERS 


35 


A.J. BROCK,  P»c« 

STATEMENT 

INOCM 

235  .... 

Chicago.— 

April  X 



_i9ia_ 

•Rardwan   A  BartT^y  Co., 

Chicago 

1700  Fifth 

Ave., 

JFn.;4cc(nmtwi0i    >^ 


i«N^%i^ii»^ 


INCORPORATED 


Bdi^ftlBofclfeOMjfetafiBBlJ 


61 

terms:  NET  CASH     on  is 

9    SOUTH   LASALLE    STREtT 

■»?«  OF  MONTH    FOI-UOWING    DATE 

or  1 

aiLi. 

o„.. 

CREDIT 

1 

BACANCe 

,„,     March  l| 

\ 

n 

0 

liar. 

5 

1 

^00 

20 

[ 

117 

5 

) 

25 

^ 

31 

L 

5 

) 

l\ 

2 

6( 

2 

i 

1 

Fig.   8.     Wholesale   Statement. 


36  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

is  called  a  "statement,"  and  usually  this  word  appears  at  the 
top.  In  place  of  the  words  used  in  the  invoice  it  usually  has 
the  words  "In  Account  with."  Either  of  these  phrases  will 
indicate  a  statement.  The  invoices  are  identified  usually  only 
by  the  date,  or  sometimes  by  the  order  number,  and  the 
amount. 

The  various  invoices  are  listed  first,  and  then  at  the  bottom 
the  word  "Credit"  or  "Cr."  is  written  across  the  middle  of  the 
page,  and  below  are  entered  the  various  credits,  which  include 
money  paid  on  account,  allowances  for  goods  returned,  and 
the  like.  The  sum  of  the  credits  is  subtracted  from  the  sum 
of  the  invoices,  and  the  difference  is  the  amount  due  and 
payable. 

In  case  the  invoices  of  the  preceding  month,  which  have 
been  entered  on  one  statement  already,  have  not  been  paid, 
the  total  shown  on  all  preceding  statements  is  entered  in  the 
first  line  as  "Balance  due." 

When  the  words  "Debit,"  Credit,"  and  "Balance"  do  not 
appear  with  separate  columns  beneath  them,  the  first  two 
columns  receive  the  various  amounts  of  different  invoices  and 
the  second  two  columns  receive  totals. 

See  Figs.  7  and  8. 

The  important  thing  for  the  secretary  is  to  know  what  these 
different  forms  mean  and  how  to  check  them.  In  all  large 
houses  they  are  made  out  for  that  house  by  specially  trained 
bookkeepers.  In  very  small  ofifices  the  secretary  frequently  has 
to  attend  to  making  out  invoices,  statements,  etc. 

Sometimes  the  total  amount  due  is  written  on  a  short 
statement  blank  and  sent  about  the  20th  of  the  month  as  a 
reminder  to  pay  up. 

Retail  Billing 

In  retail  stores  the  best  prevailing  custom  today  is  to  give 
the  customer  a  sales  check  as  shown  in  Fig.  10a  if  the  sales 
are  for  cash  or  as  in  Fig.  10b  if  the  sale  is  charged  on  a  weekly 
or  monthly  account. 


BUSINESS  PAPERS 


37 


At  the  end  of  the  week  or  month  an  itemized  statement- 
bill  is  sent.    It  is  in  form  like  a  statement,  but  it  has  the  words 

"Sold  to"  or  "Bought  of,"  the  same  as  a  bill. 

WANAMAKER.  CARSON,  FIELD  &  CO. 

RETAILERS.  WHOLESALERS.  MANUFACTURERS 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO 

1419    8KOAOWAT  STikTC  AND  WASHINSTOM 

CHICAGO.     APR      1    1919 


Sold  to  MR.  FBAIIK  WILSON, 
EVANSTON,    ILL. 
7/5651 


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2  TOOTH  BRUSHES 

15 

35 
30 

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2 

00 

23510 

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2 

00 

26213 

1  HAIR  BRUSH 
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25 

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3  U  SUITS 

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60 

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JL- 

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20 

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26539 

,1  HAT 

7 

50 

27464 

tl  BELT 

75 

29 

65  i'FORl 

KR-D 

i     « 

Fig.   9.      Retail   Monthly   Statement   or   Invoice. — First  page  only. 


38 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


In  the  first  column  is  the  number  of  the  sales  slip;  in  tlic 
second  column  is  the  item,  and  beyond  that  the  price  each, 
per  dozen,  or  the  like;  in  the  first  pair  of  figure  colmuns  are  the 
totals  for  the  items,  while  in  the  second  pair  of  figure  columns 
are  the  totals  for  each  day,  added  up  day  by  day  during  the 
month.  Credits  are  written  in  red.  See  Fig.  9.  The  word 
''forward"  means  the  amount  is  carried  forward  to  a  second 
page. 


RESIDENCE 


- 

MARSHALL  HELD  &  COMPANY 

CHICAGO 

STORE 

2 

AMT  REC-D 

CLERK  NO. 

CASH  OR 
TUBE  NO. 

!-,.««■.  N» 

Dit. 

191 

R9 

Qa.D. 

ARTICLES 

Price 

Dollars 

Centi    ciuusc 

•OMia* 

, 

..D..   . 

'■ 

942 

'■-- 

Q...IIIT 

«iricus 

rrin 

tHratlM 

399, 

37 

'^•^ 

Ctacl  MMt  iconpwf  SNft  k  cue  (f  Fr^'  *«tiini  tr  Eicknr« 

Fig.  10a.     Check  for  Cash  Sales. 

(Size  reduced.) 


Fig.  10b.     Check  for  Charge  Sales. 
(Size  reduced.) 


The  Ledger 

Carbon  copies  of  the  invoices  may  be  gathered  into  a  loose- 
leaf  sales  book,  or  the  items  may  be  kept  in  a  daybook  or 
journal  ("book  of  original  entry"),  while  totals  only  are  car- 
ried to  the  ledger.  Here  the  debits  are  entered  on  the  lefthand 
side  of  the  page  and  the  credits  on  the  righthand  side  of  the 
page.  The  "Balance"  is  the  amount  then  due  as  shown  on  the 
latest  statement.  In  the  ledger  will  be  found  the  records  of 
all  the  statements  for  a  long  time  past.  In  order  to  find  out 
just  what  was  in  the  invoice,  reference  must  be  made  to  the 
journal  or  salesbook,  so  the  journal  page  must  always  appear 
in  one  column.  See  Fig.  11. 


BUSINESS  PAPERS 


39 


Small  pencil  figures  are  frequently  seen  on  ledger  pages. 
These  are  the  additions  of  the  items  entered  above.  Until 
the  account  is  closed  these  pencil  footings  are  used  as  the 
totals  for  the  purpose  of  finding  out  quickly  what  balance  may 
be  due. 


h 

3 

/o 

?>i<iUc, 

'7 
6 

zs 

o  o 

^ 

/S 

/ 

3o 

Zo 

o  o 

// 

/7 

^1 

f^ 

2f> 

7-3^ 

^3 

■ 

Fig.  11.     Simple  Form  of  Ledger. 


Frequently  secretaries  are  required  to  look  up  accounts,  and 
if  they  know  how  to  do  it  without  calling  on  the  bookkeeper 
when  he  is  busy,  it  saves  time. 

The  philosophy  of  analyzing  accounts  and  making  the  en- 
tries that  will  show  whether  the  business  is  making  or  losing 
money,  whether  any  department  is  costing  more  than  it  earns, 
etc.,  etc.,  is  the  ''science  of  accounting." 

The  secretary  is  usually  concerned  only  with  the  records  of 
invoices  and  staternents,  and  should  not  get  these  simple 
records,  easily  understood,  confused  with  the  complicated  and 
difficult  science  of  accounting. 

The  Bank  Account 

Carefully  distinguish  between  a  savings  account  and  a 
checking  account. 


40  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

Savings  accounts  are  for  small  deposits  of  one  dollar  and 
up.  The  deposits  draw  interest  at  about  3  per  cent  per 
annum,  beginning  on  a  certain  day  of  the  month  or  month 
of  the  year,  following  the  deposit. 

All  that  is  necessary  in  opening  a  savings  account  is  to  go 
in  person  to  the  bank  with  the  money.  The  signature  of  the 
depositor  is  taken  in  a  book,  and  a  small  bank-book  is  given 
to  the  depositor  which  shows  the  amount  deposited.  In  order 
to  draw  money  out,  the  same  person  must  go  to  the  bank 
with  the  bank-book  (though  in  case  of  emergency  he  may  send 
a  written  order).  The  clerk  at  one  of  the  windows  takes  the 
book  and  writes  out  the  order  or  form  of  check,  which  the 
depositor  must  sign  and  take  to  another  window  to  have  the 
signature  compared  with  that  originally  placed  in  the  big  book 
of  the  bank.  In  large  banks  payment  is  made  at  still  a  third 
window.  Checks  cannot  be  used  to  draw  money  from  a  sav- 
ings account. 

All  large  business  houses  and  also  private  individuals  who 
have  usually  at  least  a  hundred  dollars  on  deposit  all  the  time, 
may  open  checking  accounts  for  convenience.  Usually  these 
do  not  pay  interest,  but  the  bank  gets  the  use  of  the  average 
balance  as  payment  for  the  trouble  involved. 

To  open  a  checking  account  it  is  necessary  to  go  to  the 
cashier  of  the  bank  in  person  with  some  introduction  from  a 
person  known  to  the  cashier,  such  as  an  old  depositor.  The 
bank  wants  to  know  whether  the  person  is  honest  or  not, 
and  wants  to  see  the  face  of  the  person  depositing  so  as  to  be 
able  to  recognize  him  if  he  comes  to  the  bank  again  at  any  time* 

Business  managers  usually  have  private  checking  accounts, 
which  they  expect  their  secretaries  to  care  for.  It  is  important 
to  know  how  to  make  out  deposit  slips,  indorse  checks  and 
different  kinds  of  money  orders,  list  them  correctly  on  the 
bank  deposit  slips,  and  get  currency  when  needed  from  the 
bank  for  use  of  the  manager  or  for  pay-rolls. 

Printed  deposit  slips  are  furnished  by  the  bank,  together 
with  books  of  blank  checks.    See  Fig.  12. 


BUSINESS  PAPERS 


41 


Credit  Account  of 


CHICAGO,  yy^-^^ ,  ^/f 


^'^t^<.CC0^^ — ' 


O.     y^/ll4<y  r 


J9/0_ 


EXCHANGE 


DISCOUNT 


CURRENCY_ 
SILVER. 
GOLD- 


Checks  on  other  Chicago  Banks 
Express  and  P.O.Money  Orders. 


Currency  and  Com 
Checks  on  this  Bank  and  other  Items 
excepj^ Checks  on  Chicago  Banks. 


Fig.    12.      Bank   Deposit    Slip. 

The  name  in  which  the  account  is  carried  is  written  at  the 
top  of  the  deposit  slip,  and  the  date  is  entered.  Then  the 
money,  checks,  etc.,  to  be  deposited  are  separated.  The  gold 
is  added  up  and  written  opposite  the  word  ''Gold,"  and  the 
silver  in  the  same  way.  Sometimes  these  two  items  are  called 
simply  '*Coin,"  which  means  both  gold  and  silver  money.  The 
greenbacks  or  ''bills"  are  called  "Currency,"  and  the  total  of 
these  is  entered  against  that  word  in  the  slip. 


42  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

At  the  left  there  may  be  a  place  for  the  United  States 
money  orders,  express  money  orders,  and  checks  on  banks 
in  the  same  town  or  city.  All  these  items  the  bank  sends  to 
the  ''Clearing  house,"  where  different  banks  in  the  same  town 
exchange  their  own  checks  and  settle  the  total  of  their  differ- 
ences every  day. 

Checks  on  banks  out  of  town  are  written  in  the  column 
below  where  the  various  kinds  of  money  have  been  entered. 
In  all  cases,  each  check  or  money  order  is  entered  separately. 

Last  of  all  the  three  different  groups  of  entries  are  added 
together  for  the  total.  The  bundle  of  money  and  checks, 
properly  sorted  out  with  a  rubber  band  around  each  lot,  is 
handed  with  the  deposit  slip  to  the  receiving  teller,  and  after 
checking  the  items  over  and  adding  them  up,  he  writes  the 
total  of  all  in  the  bank-book  that  is  handed  him,  and  this  entry 
is  the  depositor's  receipt  for  what  has  been  deposited. 

Bank  Checks 
In  order  to  get   any   money  out   after   it  has   once   been 
deposited  in  a  bank,  an  order  called  a  "check"  has  to  be  written 
out  and  signed  in  ink  by  the  person  to  whom  the  account 
belongs.     See  Fig.  13. 


For-tHill,Ind.^/W,,   /O,^ \9\Q_    Ho,  / '^  ^/ 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  BANK 

OF  FOREST  HILL,  INDIANA 


Pat  to  the 

OBOniOF 


z^^ 


,1,--^  Si^U 


Fig.    13.      Bank   Check. 

A  check  given  in  payment  of  a  bill  is  usually  made  payable 
to  the  person  who  has  rendered  the  bill.    If  this  is  done,  the 


BUSINESS  PAPERS 


43 


bank  is  responsible  should  it  pay  the  money  to  any  one  else 
than  the  person  named  on  the  check.  If  the  check  is  lost, 
therefore,  it  is  not  like  losing"  money.  The  bank  can  be  noti- 
fied to  stop  payment  on  that  check  and  another  is  issued.  The 
first  check  is  then  no  more  than  a  piece  of  paper. 

To  protect  itself,  the  bank  requires  the  person  who  pre- 
sents a  check  for  payment  to  be  personally  introduced  by 
another  person  who  is  known  to  the  bank.  This  is  called 
^'identifying."  When  the  person  has  an  account  with  the 
bank,  no  identification  is  necessary.  But  in  all  cases,  as  a 
guarantee  and  a  sort  of  receipt  for  the  money,  the  bank 
requires  that  the  check  be  "indorsed."     "Indorsing"  a  check 


^ 


l91o_    No.  />^>g. 


>NAL  BANK 

DIANA 


»-444^ 


znat^y^     ^^^t^'t.^^ 


DOLLARS 


Fig.    14.      Same   Check    Indorsed. 


means  writing  the  name  across  the  back.  See  Fig.  14,  Notice 
that  when  the  check  lies  face  up  before  you  the  reading  matter 
begins  at  the  left.  The  lefthand  edge  forms  the  top  of  the 
back,  and  the  indorsement  should  be  written  near  the  top  of  the 
back,  which  is  the  lefthand  side  of  the  face  of  the  check.  Many 
persons  cause  considerable  inconvenience  by  writing  their  in- 
dorsements on  the  other  end,  that  is  with  the  righthand  side 
of  the  check  as  the  top. 


44  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

Forms  of  Indorsements 

If  only  the  name  is  written  across  the  back  of  the  check  it 
is  said  to  be  "Indorsed  in  blank"  and  then  any  one  can  get  the 
check  cashed,  for  the  bank  has  its  receipt  in  full  there  and 
acknowledges  no  other  responsibility. 

If  the  check  is  indorsed  with  the  form  "Pay  to  E.  L.  Jones 
or  order,"  (Signed)  "A.  Depositor,"  the  bank  could  be  held 
responsible  if  it  paid  the  money  to  any  one  except  "E.  L. 
Jones"  or  some  one  to  whom  he  gives  an  order  by  writing 
the  same  form  with  his  name  under  the  first  indorsement. 
There  can  be  any  number  of  indorsements  on  the  back  of  a 
check.    There  are  frequently  half  a  dozen. 

The  signature  of  a  rubber  stamp  is  legal,  and  usually  when 
checks  are  simply  deposited  in  an  account,  they  are  indorsed 
by  the  bookkeeper,  who  merely  stamps  the  form,  including 
the  name,  on  the  back.  The  common  form  for  this  sort  of 
indorsement  is  an  order  to  pay  to  the  bank  where  the  account 
is  carried,  as  "Pay  to  the  Illinois  Trust  and  Savings  Bank  or 
order.  A  Depositor."  While  checks  are  accepted  for  deposit 
when  indorsed  by  a  rubber  stamp,  money  is  not  paid  out 
except  on  a  pen-written  signature. 

Checks  to  "Bearer"  and  "Cash" 

When  it  is  desired  that  the  person  presenting  a  check 
should  get  the  money  just  as  if  he  were  offering  a  twenty-dol- 
lar banknote  to  be  changed,  and  the  bank  is  released  from  all 
responsibility  to  pay  to  any  given  person,  the  check  is  written 
"Pay  to  the  order  of  Bearer."  In  that  case  the  bank  usually 
asks  the  person  who  presents  the  check  to  indorse  it  just  as 
a  memorandum  of  who  he  or  she  is. 

When  the  depositor  himself  wants  some  cash  for  personal 
or  office  use,  he  writes  out  his  check  "Pay  to  the  order  of 
Cash,"  and  the  bookkeeper  or  stenographer  can  present  the 
check  and  get  the  money  without  indorsing  it.  Sometimes  the 
depositor  writes  out  a  check  "Pay  to  the  order  of  Self,"  and  in 


BUSINESS  PAPERS 


45 


that  case  he  must  write  his  own  name  on  the  back  as  an 
indorsement  beTore  he  can  get  the  money. 

The  Stub 

In  the  books  of  blank  checks  furnished  by  the  banks 
there  is  opposite  each  check  a  special  page  on  which  to  keep 
a  record  of  the  check,  or  at  the  lefthand  side  there  is  what  is 
called  a  "stub,"  a  little  blank  on  which  the  important  facts 
About  the  check"  can  be  recorded  for  future  reference  if  neces- 
sary.    See  Fisf.  15. 


Brought  forward 
VEPOSITS 

NOT  BC  MONORCD. 

So. 

191 

Order  of -. 

Balance 

r^h^^h-   Vi-t 

t 

Carried  forward  .     . 

Fig.   15.     The  Stub. 

Secretaries  are  commonly  expected  to  write  out  checks 
and  fill  in  the  stubs.  Then  the  manager  has  only  to  sign  the 
checks  with  his  own  name,  which  is  compared  with  the  sig- 
nature on  file  in  the  bank.  This  is  the  identification.  If  any 
one  else  wrote  his  name  it  would  be  forgery.  The  rest  of 
the  check  can  be  written  in  any  handwriting  or  on  the  type- 
writer, for  only  the  signature  must  be  such  that  it  can  be 
identified. 

The  important  items  in  a  check  are  as  follows: 

The  number   (so  that  when  checks  have  been   paid  and 

are  returned  by  the  bank  with  the  written-up  bank-book,  the 

secretary  can  run  rapidly  through  the  numbers  and  see  if  any 

number  is  missing — that  is,  if  any  check  is  still  outstanding 


46      BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

and  has  not  been  paid  so  that  it  does  not  appear  in  the  bank 
balance) ; 

The  date  (very  important  in  identifying  different  checks 
given  to  the  same  person,  and  as  a  sort  of  index  in  looking  up 
correspondence,  etc.)  ; 

The  name  of  the  person  to  v^rhom  the  check  was  made  pay- 
able; 

The  amount  in  figures. 

Personal  accounts  are  often  kept  entirely  on  the  stubs 
of  checkbooks.  The  amount  of  each  check  should  be  carried 
forv^ard  to  the  next  page  or  stub  and  deducted  from  the  total 
deposits  in  the  bank  so  as  to  show  at  a  glance  how  much 
money  is  left  not  checked  out.  If  you  ask  the  bank  how  much 
money  is  on  deposit,  mistakes  may  be  made  owing  to  the  fact 
that  some  check  has  not  been  cashed.  It  is  very  important  to 
keep  the  record  of  the  checks  given  out  so  the  account  will 
not  be  overdrawn.  Whenever  a  new  deposit  is  made,  that  is 
entered  on  the  side  of  the  stub  also,  and  is  added  to  the  bal- 
ance left  after  deducting  previous  checks.  In  Fig.  15  the  right- 
hand  side  is  the  stub  proper,  and  the  lefthand  side  may  be  used 
as  desired  to  keep  the  account. 

Keeping  these  private  checking  accounts  accurately  is  a 
special  duty  of  many  secretaries.  If  all  money  received  is 
first  deposited  in  the  bank,  and  whenever  cash  is  wanted  it 
is  drawn  from  the  bank  on  a  check,  then  the  check  stubs  will 
show  a  complete  record  of  the  account  and  no  other  record 
need  be  kept.  Or  the  bank's  balance  of  the  account  can  be 
compared  with  the  balance  shown  in  the  account  books,  and 
this  will  serve  as  a  check- of  accuracy  in  keeping  the  books. 
It  is  an  excellent  rule  that  all  money  shall  first  be  deposited. 
If  for  any  reason  money  received  in  currency  has  to  be  used 
before  it  is  possible  to  go  to  the  bank,  or  money  is  received 
in  postage  stamps  which  cannot  be  deposited,  the  account  may 
be  kept  straight  by  drawing  out  enough  money  to  cover  these 
items  and  redepositing  it. 


BUSINESS  PAPERS 


47 


United  States  and  Express  Money  Orders 
United  States  money  orders  can  be  obtained  only  by  going 
to  the  postoffice.     This  duty  usually  falls  to  the  secretary. 
Fig.  16. 


lOiOO 


BjrUt  CNiv.  1  r.       522204  „ 
**"    I 

9    8 
S 


JUH-6 


j»i- 


00 

5 

:      lOiOO 


Barelif  CiKh.  n.  T.        522204 


JUN-5    1919 

COUPON  "o 


rHS  PoaTMASTCH  at  0~  l.ir< 

Barolay  Center,  N.  Y. 


VI 


FIVE 

00 

^AVCt 

Wanamaker,    Carson, 

Field   &   Co. 

MEM.TTCR 

John  D 

Vestover 

Fig,    16.      United    States    Money    Order. 

Express  money  orders  may  be  bought  at  the  office  of  any 
national  express  company.     Fig.  17. 


When  Countersicncd 

ST  AGCNT  AT  POINT    Of    ISSOt 


EXPRESS  MONEY  ORDER 


13-  2695818 


^^r  ^^  y^  A^BECS  TO  TRANSMIT  AND  ^^ 


Pay  TO  THE  ORDER  OF 

The  Sum  nr  (CJ't^fy^.^ 

(ouMTCatlCi 


/<^' 


— Dollars 


IIIC.AU[««TU>H.OCrACCI«CNT  OR   MUTILATIOH  Or  THIS  OROCR  RCNOCRS  IT  VOIO 

Fig.    17.      Express    Money    Order. 


Money  orders  are  necessary  when  a  small  remittance  is  to 
be  made  to  strangers,  who  may  be  afraid  to  accept  personal 
checks,  or  when  there  may  be  an  exchange  charge  on  checks 


48 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


that  strangers  will  not  like  to  pay.  Money  orders  are  used  in 
such  cases  for  small  amounts,  bank  drafts  or  cashier's  checks 
for  large  amounts. 

As  postmasters  do  not  as  a  rule  accept  personal  checks,  it 
is  necessary  to  go  to  the  bank  and  get  the  currency,  which  in 
turn  is  taken  to  the  postoffice.    Here  a  blank  application  form 


Dollars 


Cents 


Stamp  of  Issuing  Offtct 


The  Postmaster 
will  Insert 


(Form  No.  i 


No. 


ibe  office  drawn  on,  when  the  office  named  by  the  remitter  In  the  body 
of  this  application  Is  not  a  Money  Order  Office. . 

Spaces  above  this  line  are  for  the  Postmaster's  record,  to  be  filled  io  by  bim. 

Application  for  Domestic   Money  Order 

Spaces  below  to  be  filled  In  by  purchaser,  or.  If  necessary, 
by  another  person  for  him 

Amount 

.^ive Dollars ten Ceuts 

oSeJ**of } J.ame»J3„....Sm.ith 

<Naiue  of  persov  or  firm  for  whoni  order  is  ioteoded) 


Whose     ) 

*"!""  r  NO. .M9....B.aker. 


.iStreet 


SS^  I Btamllton. 


State. 


Ohio 


Sent  .by.. Hard^x..  .5?....C.Q..,.. 


170  North  Fifth  Ave 


A.ddres6) 

of       [ 
■ender  )    No. Street 

PURCHASER  MUST  SEND  ORDER  (ON  BLUB  PAPER)  TO  PAYEE 


Fig.  18. 


BUSINESS  PAPERS  49 

will  be  found,  which  must  be  filled  out,  and  the  postmaster 
will  in  turn^ive  a  form  a  little  different  from  the  ordinary  draft 
or  bank  check. 

When  United  States  money  orders  are  received,  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  they  must  be  indorsed  on  the  face  in  the  blank 
space  marked  ''Received."  They  may  be  deposited  at  the 
bank  for  collection  through  the  clearing  house  like  ordinary 
checks.     Rubber-stamp  signatures  will  be  accepted. 

Express  money  orders  are  indorsed  on  the  back,  like  com- 
mon checks. 

5-,o     ^.^..  MAY  14  1913 ^501217 

lUiiiois'nnist&SaTiiiasBank 

RoTTO  THB  nmss  or 

^:^^W^^^^^ — —    @^^^ 

Fig.    19.     Cashier's   Check. 

Drafts 

There  are  two  kinds  of  "drafts."  One  is  the  order  of  one 
bank  on  another.  A  bank  in  Oshkosh,  Wis.,  for  example,  has 
an  account  with  the  National  City  Bank  in  New  York,  and 
when  ^Ir.  Depositor  wants  to  send  a  check  to  a  town  in  New 
Hampshire,  and  wants  to  know  that  the  person  who  gets  his 

J1IN  ft  ion ^338358 

nUnoisnrost&SmiiiasBaiik 


NewYork 

Bank  Draft. 


50  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

check  can  get  it  cashed  without  any  trouble  or  delay,  and  with- 
out paying  for  having  it  cashed,  he  asks  his  bank  cashier  to 
give  him  a  draft,  or  he  ''buys  a  draft"  on  *'New  York"  or 
''Chicago."  A  draft  is  as  safe  and  as  good  as  a  money  order, 
and  usually  can  be  had  by  a  depositor  without  paying  for  it. 
For  local  use  a  "Cashier's  Check"  is  preferred. 

There  is  also  a  very  different  kind  of  "draft."  When  a 
man  at  a  distance  doesn't  pay  his  bill,  and  the  person  to  whom 
the  money  is  owing  wishes  to  have  a  local  bank  send  a  boy 
around  and  try  to  collect  the  money  or  find  out  why  it  isn't 
paid,  he  writes  out  a  "draft"  like  Fig.  21.  Similar  drafts  are 
used  in  making  C.  O.  D.  shipments  by  freight.  See  the  chapter 
on  "Transportation." 


IMwi»»,  (/o-fcu 


Strife  (If  ^a^^  Bfrrlothecvdoror 

llliiiids1h«si&S^ifiii^Bioi]& 


i 


!# 


v^^    /V-^^^^ 


Fig.    21,      Customer's   Draft. 

The  customer  deposits  his  draft  in  his  own  bank,  and  his 
bank  charges  him  10c  or  more  to  send  it  to  a  bank  in  the  town 
where  the  debtor  lives.  That  bank  in  turn  presents  it  and  tries 
to 'find  out  why  it  is  not  paid  if  it  is  "dishonored."  Many 
business  men  dislike  to  have  their  "paper"  dishonored. 
Promissory  Notes 

When  a  man  can't  pay  his  bill  at  the  time  it  falls  due,  and 
wants  more  time  in  which  to  get  together  enough  money,  he 
sometimes  offers  to  give  the  creditor  a  "note."  This  is  often 
spoken  of  as  "paper,"  though  checks  and  drafts  are  sometimes 
spoken  of  under  that  term.  "Paper"  is  pre-eminently  promis- 
sory notes. 


BUSINESS  PAPERS  31 

Notes  and  drafts  are  usually  to  be  had  in  books  like  check- 
books, with  stubs  that  should  be  filled  out  in  the  same  way  for 
permanent  reference. 

Drafts  on  other  banks,  known  as  ''exchange,"  are  deposited 
like  any  checks. 


Fig.   22.      Promissory   Note. 

Collection  drafts  and  notes  are  received  by  the  bank  "For 
Collection,"  and  usually  are  entered  in  the  back  of  the  bank- 
book under  the  head  "Collections."  When  they  have  been 
collected  and  the  money  is  received,  it  will  be  credited  to  the 
regular  bank  account. 

In  order  to  get  money  immediately  on  a  note,  the 
manager  must  himself  arrange  to  have  the  note  "discounted," 
and  a  certain  amount  is  deducted  by  the  bank  for  advancing 
cash  on  it.  Only  notes  that  are  regarded  as  safe  will  be 
discounted. 

Receipts — Voucher  Checks 

We  have  already  seen  that  when  a  man  writes  his  name 
across  the  back  of  a  bank  check,  the  bank  accepts  that  as  his 
receipt  for  the  money  it  has  paid  him,  and  the  check  will  be 
recognized  in  court  as  a  receipt  for  the  bill  it  pays  if  there  is 
any  way  by  which  a  particular  check  can  be  connected  with  a 
particular  bill.  Of  course  the  easy  way  to  do  this  is  to  hav2 
the  bill  attached  right  to  the  check,  or  printed  on  the  same 
piece  of  paper.     Such  a  combination  of  check  and  invoice  is 


52  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  LT  TO  DATE 

called  a  "voucher  check."    The  check  is  not  paid  by  the  bank 
until  the  invoice  has  been  receipted. 

A  simple  receipt  for  money  by  which  a  bill  is  paid  is  given 
by  writing  at  the  bottom  of  the  invoice  or  statement,  ''Re- 
ceived Payment,"  followed  by  the  name,  or  simply  "Paid." 
Fig.  23  gives  a  form  for  a  simple  receipt  for  money. 


u^^f^^^^^^^ssmBsmEssmss^soEass^s^^^mi^B^Bi^^^ms 


'•<^^^  -  ~f'^^  ^^" 


"V^-^-^/ 


C^-^       ^^-r  t^ 


._^t 


l/^^-vi^y^^vy.^ 


-f- 


m-^tvM4l-riWVWTWAW>WrS-<J|JWyH.IWmWWY¥WWW'WlJ.'i«l'.fl^ 


Fig.    23.     Form   of   Receipt. 

The  Balance  Sheet 

When  a  person  has  money  owing  him,  and  owes  money  to 
others,  and  has  property  or  goods  which  he  has  not  sold  but 
expects  to  sell  and  realize  money  from,  he  finds  out  just  how 
he  stands  by  making  out  a  balance  sheet. 

First  he  takes  account  of  all  notes  and  other  forms  of 
"paper"  on  which  he  can  later  collect  money  and  enters  under 
a  head  "Bills  Receivable."  This  means  "bills"  in  the  technical 
banking  sense,  not  "invoices"  or  "book  accounts."  "Bills 
Payable"  are  the  notes  and  other  forms  of  paper  he  will  have 
to  pay.  Then  he  makes  a  head  "Accounts  Receivable"  and 
enters  under  that  head  all  the  totals  of  the  statements  or 
invoices  he  has  rendered  for  goods  he  has  sold  which  have  not 
been  paid  for.  Under  the  head  "Accounts  Payable"  he  enters 
the  totals  of  all  the  statements  or  invoices  for  goods  which  he 
has  bought  but  has  not  paid  for.  Under  the  head  of  "Inven- 
tory" he  makes  a  list  of  all  the  goods  he  owns  with  their  pres- 


BUSINESS  PAPERS  53 

ent  value  to  him.  Of  course,  this  is  what  they  cost  him,  or 
what  they  are  now  worth  to  him.  Also  in  this  column  would 
be  entered  all  the  real  estate  he  owns.  Under  the  head  "Cash" 
would  appear  the  balance  of  all  the  money  he  has  on  hand  in 
his  office  or  in  the  bank. 

The  balance  sheet  is  the  summary  of  all  these  different 
items.  The  money  he  has  on  hand,  the  goods  he  owns,  the 
"paper"  owing  to  him,  and  the  balance  in  his  favor  of  all 
"Open  Accounts,"  is  entered  under  the  head  of  "Assets."  All 
that  he  owes  in  any  form,  including  the  capital  with  which 
he  started  business  and  the  surplus  he  has  accumulated,  should 
be  entered  under  the  head  of  "Liabilities."  These  two  accounts 
should  exactly  balance  when  added  up.  The  fact  that  the 
two  balance  proves  that  his  accounts  are  correctly  entered. 
The  item  entered  as  "surplus"  shows  how  much  he  has  in 
excess  of  his  original  capital.  This  is  in  reality  the  difference 
between  what  he  owes  and  what  is  owing  him  or  he  has  in 
the  form  of  goods.  It  is  similar  to  the  "Cash  to  balance"  in 
the  cash  account. 

Pay-roll 

Pay-rolls  are  made  out  in  different  ways  according  to  the 
character  of  the  particular  business.  Usually  when  salaries 
are  paid  weekly  of  uniform  amounts,  a  book  properly  ruled  has 
the  names  at  the  lefthand  side,  then  a  column  containing  the 
authorized  salary,  and  after  this  a  series  of  columns  with  a 
date  at  the  head  of  each.  Under  the  current  date  the  actually 
earned  salary  for  the  past  week  is  entered.  Deductions  may 
be  made  in  any  week  so  pay  for  that  week  will  be  reduced. 

At  the  top  or  bottom  is  a  place  for  the  proper  officer  to 
sign,  indicating  his  approval.  A  check  is  presented  to  him  at 
the  same  time  and  he  also  signs  the  check. 

Accompanying  the  check  is  a  little  memorandum  made  out 
by  the  person  who  has  charge  of  making  up  the  pay  envelopes. 
This  shows  how  many  nickles,  dimes,  quarters,  halves,  dollars, 
etc.,  are  required  in  currency  to  fill  the  envelopes  correctly. 


54 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


Name  Wages       May  3,  1917  May  10,  1917   May  17,  1917   May  24,  1917 

John    Smith    ..$12.00  $12.00 

Henry  Jones..'.    15.50  *14.90 

John   Barton...    12.50  12.50 

Sam   Knox 10.25  10.25 

Jesse  Benton..      9.10  9.10 

Payroll    Approved (Signed) 

Payroll   Approved (Signed) '. 

Payroll   Approved (Signed) 

Payroll   Approved (Signed) 


♦Wages  docked. 

A  form   like   the  above  cares   for  the  pay-roll   for  four 
weeks,  or  one  month. 

When  workmen  in  a  factory  are  working  by  the  hour,  a 
form  of  pay-roll  like  the  following  is  needed.  As  the  names 
change  greatly  from  week  to  week,  separate  sheets  are  better 
than  a  book.  The  approval  of  the  proper  officer  is  written 
under  "Remarks,"  near  the  end,  and  "O.  K.,"  with  initials,  is 
usually  sufficient.  The  same  blank  may  be  used  for  those  on 
salary  also,  and  the  columns  for  the  daily  time  records  simply 
passed  over.     See  Fig.  24. 


PAY-ROLL.     For  tKe  week 

^ 

inff 

1 

9 

NAME 

N_b«  d  Hub  W«k  E^  D>T 

Ttd  N.. 

WMt 

M~ 

T«. 

W.I 

TW 

Fo 

Su. 

• 

Fig.    24.      Pay-roll    Sheet. 


BUSINESS  PAPERS 


55 


Form  22 


11-27-12    P.  f.  P.  4  Co. 


TheNationalCityBankofChicago 

MONEY  WANTED  FOR  PAY  ROLL 

191 — 


FOR- 


GOLD. 

$20.00 

$  1 0.00    ...... 

$    5.00 

CURRENCY. 

TWENTIES 

TENS    ....... 

FIVES 

ONES  and  TWOS   ... 

SILVER. 

DOLLARS,      in  $20  rolls.     . 

HALVES,         in  $10  rolls,     .      . 

QUARTERS,    ln$10  rolls.     .      . 

DIMES,            in    $5  rolls.     .      . 

NICKELS,       in    $2  rolls.     .      . 

PENNIES,       inSOcrolfe.     .      . 

TOTAL,     .     . 

Fig.   25,     Currency   Slip. 


56  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

A  convenient  way  of  counting  up  the  different  kinds  of 
currency  needed  to  fill  the  envelopes  in  the  best  way  is  as 
follows : 

Take  a  sheet  ruled  with  twelve  columns  and  write  at  the 
top  figures  indicating  the  denominations  of  currency  that  may 
be  needed.  In  the  column  at  the  left  copy  off  the  amounts  of 
the  wages  in  the  order  they  come  on  the  pay-roll  as  made  out 
above.  Each  wage  is  then  distributed  into  its  most  suitable 
denominations,  as  $50  would  be  five  tens,  $47.27  would  be 
four  tens,  one  five,  a  two,  twenty-five  cents,  and  two  cents. 

10  5  2  1         .50         .25         .10  .05  .02         .01 

$   50.00    5 

47.27    4  11  1  1 

21.88    2  1  1  1  1  1  1 

Etc. 

11  111121  21 
$119.15    110            5            2            1         !50         ^50         !l0                        !o4         ^ 

At  the  bottom  of  each  column  you  easily  add  up  the  total 
number  of  pieces  of  each  denomination  required  and  copy  this 
off  on  a  slip  for  presentation  to  the  bank  with  the  pay-roll 
check  (usually  banks  furnish  blank  requisitions  for  currency 
for  pay-rolls — See  Fig.  25.)  In  a  line  below  you  figure  the 
totals  and  add  them  up  to  see  if  they  tally  with  the  direct 
addition  of  the  wages  in  the  lefthand  column. 

With  a  sheet  like  this  before  one,  it  is  possible  to  make  up 
a  pay-roll  very  rapidly  and  very  accurately,  for  you  see  at  a 
glance  just  what  coins  go  in  each  envelope. 

Incoming  Mail 

It  is  often  the  duty  of  the  confidential  stenographer  or 
private  secretary  to  open  the  mail,  especially  when  there  is  a 
large  amount  of  it  as  in  a  mail  order  business. 

The  first  important  point  in  this  connection  is  to  see  that 
the  full  address  is  on  the  letter  itself.  It  may  be  found  only 
on  the  envelope,  and  possibly  the  postmark  will  be  required  to 
decide  where  the  letter  comes  from.  In  case  of  doubt,  the 
envelope  should  always  be  pinned  to  the  letter. 


BUSINESS  PAPERS  57 

When  there  are  inclosures  of  any  kind  they  may  be  pinned 
to  the  letter,  or  they  may  be  placed  in  a  pile  by  themselves. 
In  either  case,  even  if  the  inclosure  is  pinned  to  the  letter,  a 
memorandum  should  be  made  on  the  letter  so  that  if  the  in- 
closure is  ever  taken  off  and  the  letter  placed  in  the  file  it 
will  be  possible  to  know  just  what  inclosure  actually  was 
received.  If  the  inclosure  is  mentioned  in  the  letter  but  is 
missing,  "Xo  inclosure"  should  be  written  on  the  letter  and 
the  envelope  preserved  to  show  whether  it  has  been  tampered 
with. 

If  there  is  a  money  order  for  50  cents,  we  would  write  on 
the  letter  firmly  and  clearly.  ''M.  O.  50c."  If  there  are  stamps, 
write  *'50c  stamps" ;  if  it  is  an  express  money  order,  write 
"Ex.  M.  p.  50c";  if  it  is  a  check,  write  "50c  check,"  or  "50c 
draft"  if  in  New  York  or  Chicago  exchange ;  and  so  on. 

As  soon  as  the  mail  has  been  opened,  the  money  received 
in  different  forms  should  at  once  be  entered  in  the  cashbook, 
and  then  it  can  be  placed  in  the  safe  until  the  bank  deposit 
is  made  up  just  before  going  to  the  bank.  Making  up  the  bank 
deposit  will  consist  in  indorsing  the  checks,  etc.,  with  the 
proper  rubber  stamp  or  with  pen  and  ink,  sorting  them  out  as 
required  by  the  bank,  and  listing  them  on  the  bank  deposit 
slip.  A  rubber  band  is  usually  slipped  around  the  various 
items  for  deposit,  and  the  whole  slipped  inside  the  bank-book. 
At  the  bank  there  is  nothing  to  be  done,  then,  but  to  hand 
the  bank-book  with  the  items  for  deposit  and  the  list  inside 
to  the  teller,  and  he  will  proceed  to  make  the  entry  and  return 
the  bank-book. 

Exchange 

Banks  charge  from  5  cents  up  for  collecting  the  money  on 
checks  drawn  on  small  places  outside  their  own  town  or  city. 
The  teller  knows  just  what  towns  must  pay  exchange  and 
checks  them  on  the  deposit  slip.  The  exchange  is  sometimes 
deducted  from  the  total  deposit,  but  more  often  the  depositor 
pays  it  in  cash  as  one  of  the  petty  cash  expenses  of  the  office. 


58  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

If  the  latter  is  the  custom,  the  secretary  should  always  have 
some  small  change  with  which  to  pay  the  exchange.  There 
is  no  exchange  on  drafts  on  New  York  or  Chicago  and  other 
large  centers,  express  or  government  money  orders,  and  checks 
that  can  go  through  the  local  clearing  house. 

Household  Bookkeeping 

It  is  often  the  duty  of  the  private  secretary  to  look  after 
the  special  household  or  private  accounts. 

As  has  already  been  stated,  the  most  convenient  way  to 
do  this  is  to  see  that  all  accounts  are  paid  by  check,  money 
received  always  being  first  deposited  in  the  bank.  Then  a 
memorandum  of  what  each  check  is  for  should  be  made  on  the 
stub.  These  check  stubs  will  be  the  book  of  original  entry, 
and  from  them  the  items  can  be  posted  into  a  ledger  for  the 
purpose  of  classifying  them,  so  as  to  find  out  how  much  this 
costs  or  that  costs,  or  the  other. 

If  there  are  many  little  receipts,  as  from  the  sale  of  milk, 
vegetables  on  a  farm,  chickens,  or  eggs,  all  the  items  can  best 
be  kept  in  a  cashbook.  If  a  check  is  handed  over  once  a 
month  to  pay  all  expenses,  the  entry  in  the  bank-book  may  be 
sufficient,  and  possibly  no  cashbook  will  be  required.  If  how- 
ever, many  small  items  must  be  paid  out  in  currency,  where 
a  check  cannot  be  used  conveniently,  a  cashbook  will  also  be 
needed  to  keep  these  items. 

Plere,  then,  are  the  records.  How,  then,  shall  we  find  out 
what  the  proprietor  wants  to  know? 

He  or  she  may  want  to  know  whether  the  fancy  dairy  is 
paying  its  own  way  or  not,  how  much  it  really  costs  to  keep 
up  an  automobile,  what  the  family  living  expenses  are,  etc.,  etc. 

In  the  checkbook  stubs,  the  bank-book,  and  the  cashbook 
will  be  found  all  the  items  mixed  together.  The  bookkeeping 
consists  in  classifying  them  in  a  ledger. 

The  best  way  to  do  is  to  see  just  what  information  the  pro- 
prietor really  w^ants.  Only  he  can  tell  you  that,  so  you  cannot 
make  a  start  at  classifying  the  accounts  till  you  know  what  in- 


TRANSPORTATION  59 

formation  is  really  desired.  If  no  information  is  especially 
desired,  then  there  is  no  object  in  classifying,  and  the  original 
entries  are  best  left  as  they  are,  to  be  classified  at  some  future 
time  if  ever  special  information  is  desired.  But  if  special  in- 
formation is  desired,  get  the  different  headings  from  the  pro- 
prietor and  open  a  ledger  account  for  each.  There  may  be  also 
miscellaneous  items  on  which  no  record  is  specially  desired, 
but  in  order  to  know  you  have  overlooked  nothing  these  mis- 
cellaneous items  should  be  put  in  an  account  by  themselves 
headed  perhaps  General  Expense. 

Then  once  a  week,  or  once  a  month,  at  regular  intervals, 
take  the  bank-book,  the  cashbook,  and  the  check-stubs  and 
enter  each  in  some  one  of  the  ledger  accounts.  Unless  all  are 
entered,  there  is  no  way  of  checking  totals  to  detect  errors  or 
being  certain  nothing  important  has  been  overlooked.  On 
the,  debit  side  may  be  entered  all  matters  of  expense  under 
each  head,  and  on  the  credit  side  any  money  received  or  the 
checks  from  headquarters  to  cover  the  expense. 

The  total  debit  of  each  account  and  the  total  credit  of  each 
account  may  be  carried  to  a  single  Balance  Sheet,  where  the 
grand  totals  will  show  a  balance  exactly  equal  to  the  amount 
remaining  in  the  bank. 

This  is  simple  single-entry  bookkeeping,  but  it  is  the  most 
practicable  for  the  purpose  indicated.  If  each  item  were  en- 
tered twice,  on  the  credit  side  of  one  account  and  the  debit 
side  of  another,  the  sum  of  the  credits  would  then  always  be 
equal  to  the  sum  of  the  debits,  and  we  should  have  double- 
entry  bookkeeping. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Transportation 

Goods  may  be  shipped  by  (1)  mail,  (2)  express,  (3)  freight 
(rail  or  water). 

In  each  case  (including  mail  under  the  new  parcels  post 
provision)  the  value  of  the  goods  or  the  costs  of  transportation 


60  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

may  be  collected  from  the  person  to  whom  the  goods  are  sent. 
This  is  called  shipping  C.  O.   D. — collect  on  delivery. 

The  person  or  firm  making  the  shipment  is  technically 
known  as  the  ''consignor/'  the  person  or  firm  receiving  the 
goods  as  the  "consignee."  It  is  necessary  to  know  these  terms 
so  as  to  sign  in  the  right  place  on  bills  of  lading. 

Parcels  under  eleven  pounds  and  not  over  12  inches  in  com- 
bined length  and  girth  may  go  by  parcels  post.  When  the 
charges  are  more  than  ten  or  fifteen  cents  they  may  often  go 
as  cheaply  by  express,  and  if  the  express  company  takes  them  j 
it  will  call  for  them  and  deliver  them,  and  also  guarantee  de- 
livery. Mail  delivery  is  guaranteed  only  by  registry  or  insur- 
ance, for  which  an  extra  payment  must  be  made.  Shipments 
over  a  hundred  pounds  usually  go  more  cheaply  by  freight. 
As  the  express  company  collects  the  goods  and  delivers  them 
at  destination,  the  real  cost  of  freight  as  compared  with 
express  can  be  found  only  by  adding  the  cartage  or  draying 
charge  at  both  ends.  These  costs  are  often  more  than  the 
entire  express  charge,  yet  people  overlook  them  and  pay  more 
for  a  freight  shipment  plus  cartage  than  for  express  with  | 
cartage  included.  Express  shipments  are  much  faster  than  by  ' 
freight,  usually  two  or  three  times  as  fast,  as  express  cars 
are  carried  on  passenger  trains,  which  have  the  right  of  way, 
while  freight  goes  in  freight  cars.  When  quick  delivery  is 
required  even  on  large  shipments,  express  is  preferred.  Often 
several  carloads  of  scenery,  etc.,  are  shipped  by  express  for 
theatrical  companies. 

Let  us  look  at  the  Commercial  Map  of  the  United  States 
which  accompanies  this  book.  The  principal  railroad  lines 
are  shown,  drawn  in  different  styles  to  indicate  the  express 
companies  operating  over  them.  As  a  rule  only  one  express 
company  operates  over  one  railroad  line.  Only  the  larger 
cities  (over  10,000  inhabitants  and  not  all  of  these)  are  shown, 
and  only  the  main  lines  of  railroad.  If  all  the  small  towns  and 
branch  lines  were  shown,  the  network  would  be  too  thick  to 


TRANSPORTATION  61 

distinguish.     As  it  is,  the  lines  running  into  New  York  and 
Chicago  are  so  numeroiis  it  is  hard  to  follow  them. 

It  will  be  noticed  on  this  map  that  there  are  several 
different  railroads  connecting  New  York  and  Chicago,  Chicago 
and  Cincinnati,  Chicago  and  St.  Louis,  etc.  Many  towns  can 
be  reached  only  by  shipping  part  way  over  one  line  and  part 
way  over  another,  and  there  may  be  a  dozen  different  combina- 
tions. Choosing  the  best  route  is  called  ^'routing,"  and  is 
indicated  on  the  shipping  order  as  "via"  this  city  or  certain 
different  railroads.  "Via  rail  and  water"  on  a  shipment  from 
New  York  to  Chicago  would  mean  by  rail  to  Buffalo  and  by 
steamer  over  the  Great  Lakes  from  Buffalo  to  Chicago. 

Shipping  by  Mail 

All  shipments  by  mail  except  first  class  (letter  postage) 
must  be  tied  so  they  are  open  to  inspection. 

Newspapers  and  periodicals  bearing  the  words  "Entered 
as  second  class  mail  matter"  go  at  the  rate  of  1  cent  for  four 
ounces,  and  may  be  deposited  in  any  mail  box.  All  other 
printed  matter,  including  books,  circulars,  etc.,  goes  for  1  cent 
for  two  ounces,  deposited  in  any  mail  box.  The  express  com- 
panies take  this  printed  matter  from  publishers  and  other 
large  shippers  at  the  same  rate  if  marked  "Schedule  D,"  the 
minimum  not  less  than  10  cents  east  of  Denver,  15  cents  west 
of  Denver  when  shipped  from  Eastern  points.  Limit  of 
weight  by  mail,  except  for  one  book,  four  pounds. 

Merchandise  can  be  shipped  by  mail  only  as  fourth  class 
(or  under  letter  postage)  by  parcels  post.  The  rate  varies 
from  5c  to  12c  a  pound  (Ic  an  ounce  for  four  ounces  or  under) 
according  to  the  distance.  The  package  must  be  taken  to  the 
postoffice  and  ordinary  stamps  affixed.  The  rates  may  be  found 
on  a  zone  map  or  rate  sheet  obtained  from  any  postoffice. 
The  law  provides  for  insurance  and  also  for  collections  on  de- 
livery. Exact  information  should  be  obtained  at  the  postoffice 
when  the  goods  are  sent,  since  they  must  be  taken  there  in 
person,  anyway.     Packages  by  parcels  post  must  not  weigh 


62 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


over  20  pounds  in  first  zone  or  11  pounds  in  other  zones,  nor 
have  a  combined  length  and  girth  of  over  72  inches. 

Shipping  by  Express 
Occasional  single  express  packages  should  be  taken  to  the 
nearest  express  office  of  a  company  that  has  a  railroad  running 
to  the  town  of  destination.  The  proper  company  may  usually 
be  determined  by  glancing  at  the  Commercial  Map.  If  no 
company  at  the  point  of  shipment  does  business  in  the  town 
of  destination,  the  package  will  be  transferred  from  one  com- 
pany to  another.  A  receipt  for  the  package  should  be  ob- 
tained from  the  express  agent,  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  26,  and 
if  charges  are  prepaid  this  receipt  will  be  marked  'Taid." 


READ  THE  CONDITIONS  OF  THIS  RECEIPT. 


AMERICAN  EXPRESS  COMPANY  72ee«^atf^!^M^i5i:L?iZiM?^^?^ 


May  3.  'i^^^ 


TMUunaker,  CTBon,  field  rCo i  »*F''»;'»>"^'''g"-*"f^,«*y>«y,fa»»7»ir?»f^  iS'SSw.i'JSlU mSH 


^O-vvw-jfcA^, 


Fig.  26.  Express  Receipt 
In  large  cities  expressmen  call  every  day  at  all  principal 
buildings,  or  will  call  on  telephone  request.  A  call  card  like 
Fig.  27  may  be  dropped  in  a  special  box  near  the  entrance,  and 
expressmen  will  come  to  the  room  or  department  indicated. 
If  many  packages  are  to  be  sent,  an  order  may  be  given  one 
express  company  to  call  every  day,  and  to  turn  over  to  other 
companies  any  packages  it  cannot  itself  deliver.    There  is  no 


TRANSPORTATIOX 


^3 


VJaa    1911  ) 


charge  for  this  latter  service, 
as  the  one  company,  of  course, 
keeps  for  itself  all  business  to 
competitive  points. 

In  most  business  houses 
where  numerous  shipments  are 
made  there  will  be  found  two 
different  blankbooks  provided 
by  the  express  company — a 
"Prepaid"  book,  with  pages  in 
duplicate  with  a  carbon  sheet, 
one  page  of  which  appears  as 
shown  in  Fig.  28;  the  other 
book  is  the  "Collect"  book,  for 
packages  sent  when  the  charges  are  to  be  collected  at  the  other 
end.  Pages  in  this  book  are  single,  without  carbon  copy,  and 
appear  as  shown  in  Fig.  29.  When  the  charges  are  prepaid 
the  expressman  signs  as  a  receipt,  and  then  tears  out  the  car- 
bon copy,  and  after  the  package  has  been  weighed  at  the  ex- 


AT   ROOM 


Fig.    27. 


Express   Call   Card. 


MTIKOmBLL 


AMERICAN  EXPRESS  COMPANY. 


2fli«^A>cb  of Wanamaker,   Carson,   Field  t  Co.' 


jlay  19,   1919 


ma  property  h«r*lnaf4*r  d*«erib«4,  wfilch  th«  Cxpr***  Company  andartaka*  *»  fanaard  ta  tka  naaraat  pohM  ta  dastl. 
Ml  raachad  by  It,  aobiact  ta  ttia  term*  mnd  camMtlcns  of  tha  Expraaa  Company'*  ragular  form  af  racalpt  prtntad  an  tk« 
«  trant  covar  ol  this  baali  and  wlilch  tarma  and  condltlaas  ara  asraad  to  by  ahlppar  ar  oanaaf  la  aecaptlag  tMa  racaipt. 


QuMnmr- 
AimciM. 

V*uic  AaitCD 
.NoCninA* 

WCIOMT. 

CONSIGNCE. 

DtSTINATION. 

pwBmo. 

N»M»t 

T 

Sac 

nan    t. 

fin 

*.«„,    r4* 

HAT^i-y    5;iinmAna 

Seitiiate,  Mass. 

"^^-z- 

>;^  V  ^ 

--^:.^^'**^!^N 

^^'"^ 

Receipted  for  by 

nUVSUKS  CMCQUES  aii^  LCTTCm  OT  CKCDIT.  atoo  MONEY  OROaiS  and  SI«HT  OHATTS 


Fig.   28.     Receipt   from   "Prepaid"  Express   Book. 


64 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


RCCEIVEO 

r».  F„,p,r, 

WanMnakw.   Caraon,   Field  i  Co. 

COMDPJLIVTr.            (r«0 

ll.r«n.»f(ef  dMcribwl,  xhith  l»t  t«pnM  ComDJr,  gnjertaVts  10  ro'.irii  1^  Ih.  "-arm  ocml  lo  icil.^.llon  ruched  b»  It.  tubiecl  to  Iht  Wm,  ifid  COoditiOM  of  Iho  C«<lipa«/t 
hem  of  ,«.»t  Ofirttd  00  inuit  f.oot  co.tr  of  .h„  boofc.  .„d  wkKh  I,,,;  ,„d  con*.,ons  a>.  «;r«J  lo  hi  thJ.h.pKr  Of  o«o«r  lo  .cc.cliiK  tki.  r«oi|.t.       jNOTNtGOTIABU.* 

DATE 

BEJJUTO08 
4110  eOKIEL-W 

Ttls.  uk«d 
tatUmu 

AIBUtOSTO 

tKnsATJoa 

tXSEHTZD  BT 

V«v 

3 

SO 

QO 

J.  F.  Jacoba 

Uarlon.   Ohio 

r 

10 

on 

Durham.   3.C. 

1    pkf. 

ff 

09 

H.O.Johnaon 

Loe  Angelea.   Cal. 

r  V 

f 

v^ 

7-  ^^ 

-~ ^ 

c:  > 

^ 

. 

~~~~~^^ 

/ 

Fig.    29.     Receipt   from   "Collect"   Express   Book. 

press  office  and  the  charges  determined,  a  collector  brings  this 
carbon  copy  back  to  get  the  money  later.  In  the  case  of  "col- 
lect" shipments,  the  expressman  simply  signs  the  book  as  a 
receipt,  and  nothing  further  is  heard  of  the  matter  unless  the 
shipment  has  to  be  traced. 

For  a  small  additional  fee  the  express  company  will  collect 
from  the  consignee  any  money  due  -for  the  goods.    When  such 


Wells  F&rgo&  Co  Express  f  A  T\ 

Gbods  Shipped  to  V,  V,  J/, 


Amount  of  Bill?  $4-.^:^ 


Collect  charges  for  ftjaxn  of  money  unlest 
otherwise  instructed  by  shipper  in  writing 
udder  "$hipper's  Instructions." 


No. 


Way-Billed  to  or  via 


Postmaster:  Forward  to  Address  on  Reverse  Side. 


SHIPPER'S   INSTRUCTIONS 


Way-Billed  From. 

Fig.    30a.      Back   of   C.    O.    D.    Envelope. 


TRANSPORTATION 


65 


CHICAGO,  ILL. 

(RETAIN  COPTn"  -(421,  Jan     1912.) 

American  Express  Co. 


'^MfJ^  191^ 


Ym  irt  MtMed  that 


tofWf<<4  ki  |ou 


V  Collection/* 


^  Shipoen  Invoice  No. 

or  Uentlf  cation  No. 

~  or  Marks  on  Package 

.  remaint 


1  InJt^U  office  ttMeliiettd  lor^e  reason  that  consignee 


collections  are  desired  we 
speak  of  it  as  "C.  O.  D. 
shipment."  In  this  case 
the  express  charges  may 
be  either  prepaid  or  col- 
lect,   and   that   alone   will 

determine  in  which  book 

i«j9.  the  entry  is  to  be  made. 
I-  When  the  charges  for  car- 
riage are  to  be  collected 
the  shipment  is  said  to  be 
''Collect,"  and  goes  in  the 
"Collect"  book.  When 
money  for  goods  is  to  be 
collected  at  the  other  end, 


2 

z 

O        While  the  thipment  remains  unde  l»*red.  it  is  held  at  owner  s  risk       the      shipmCnt     is      Callcd     3- 

J  and  iubjepi  to  exoress  charges. 

E        P.easeatence  oresont  this  Notice  to  ACEN'T  OF  THt-:  CX- 

ea  PRESS  CO.  u>iiosE  rkckipt  yoi  hold,  accow. 

PdMED      By       tVHITTEN      INSTHt  eriO.NS       FOB 

DISPOSAL.  AMERICAN  EXPRESS  CO. 


Per. 


Order  and  Commission  Department 

of  this  Company  purchases  or  obtains  for  patrons  any 
article  at  any  place  where  the'Counpany  lias  an  .\gcnoy. 
For  such  special  service  performed  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  the  Company  charges  only  the  usual  rates 
(for  carrying  the  goods  and  a  small  fee  when  it  advances 
the  purchase  money. 

Fig.    31.      Notice    that    Express    Cannot 
be    Delivered, 


"C.  O.  D.  shipment,"  and 
may  be  entered  in  either 
book,  according  as  the 
charges  are  to  be  prepaid 
or  collected. 

To  make  a  C.  O.  D. 
shipment,  it  is  necessary 
to  place  in  a  special  en- 
velope furnished  by  the 
express  company  a  single 
invoice  showing  how  much  is  to  be  collected.  On  this  en- 
velope are  blanks  to  be  filled  out,  as  shown  in  Fig.  30.     On 

the  package  also  should  be  plainly  written  "C.  O.  D.  $ ," 

the  correct  amount  filled  in.  This  is  for  reference  in  case  the 
envelope  gets  lost.  Slip  the  C.  O.  D.  envelope  under  the 
string  of  the  express  package  and  let  the  expressman  take  it 
with  the  package.  Foreign  (Canadian)  shipments  require 
three  invoices  and  a  manifest. 

In  case  an  express  package  cannot  be  immediately  deliv- 
ered at  destination,  the  express  agent  at  that  point  will  send 


66  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

a  postal  card  like  Fig.  31,  notifying  of  this  fact.  On  receipt 
of  this  postal  card  the  secretary  should  at  once  write  to  the 
consignee  to  tell  him  the  package  is  waiting  at  such  and  such 
express  office  (always  tell  the  express  company  and  the  office 
as  shown  on  the  notification  card).  If  the  shipment  has  for 
any  reason  been  refused,  an  effort  should  be  made  to  find  out 


Graduated  Express  Charges  Under  100  Pounds. 

(New   Interstate  Commerce   Revision.) 

1  lb 21     22  .22 

2  lbs 22     .22     .24 

3  22     .24     .25 

4  23     .25     .27 

5  24     .26     .29 

7  26     .29  .33 

10  28     .33  .38 

15  32     .39     .47 

20  36     .46     .56 

25  40     .52     .65 

30  44     .59  .74 

35  48     .65     .83 

40  52     ,12  .92 

45 56     .78  1.01 

50  60     .85  1.10 

55  64     .91  1.19 

60  68     .98  1.28 

65  72  1.04  1.37 

70 76  1.11  1.46 

75  80  1.17  1.55 

80  84  1.24  1.64 

85 88  1.30  1.73 

100  1.00  1.50  2.00 


TRANSPORTATION  67 

from  the  consignee  what  the  reason  is.  Xo  attention  need  be 
given  the  express  company  unless  an  order  for  delivery  or  re- 
turn of  the  goods  is  to  be  sent. 

Shipping  by  Freight 

Shipments  by  freight,  either  rail  or  water,  must  be  deliv- 
ered to  the  freight  station  or  dock.  For  this  purpose  a  dray- 
man must  usually  be  employed.  Freight  charges  may  be  pre- 
paid or  collected  at  destination,  but  usually  are  collected  at 
destination  even  when  allowed  by  the  shippers.  The  consignee 
deducts  them  from  the  invoice. 

Large  shippers  have  their  own  brief  bills  of  lading  blanks, 
which  are  filled  out  in  duplicate  or  triplicate  and  handed  to 
the  drayman,  who  gets  one  or  more  of  them  receipted  at  the 
freight  house.  But  on  request  the  railroad  will  issue  bills  of 
lading,  which  are  made  out  in  triplicate,  the  first  being  called 
the  ''Original,"  the  second  the  "Shipping  Order"  (retained  by 
the  railroad),  and  the  third  the  "Memorandum"  (retained  by 
the  shipper  for  reference).  Fig.  32.  The  Original  should  be 
sent  to  the  consignee  to  enable  him  to  get  the  shipment  from 
the  freight  house  if  he  is  not  known  to  the  agent.  In  most 
cases  where  the  consignee  is  an  established  business  house  no 
bill  of  lading  is  required  in  order  to  secure  the  goods,  and  none 
is  issued  by  the  railroad  except  as  a  receipt  for  goods  when 
delivered  at  the  freight  house.  The  important  point  for  the 
secretary  is  to  know  that  the  "Original"  should  be  sent  to  the 
consignee,  if  any  is  sent. 

The  bill  of  lading  shown  in  Fig.  32  is  called  a  "Straight 
Bill  of  Lading."  When  shipments  by  freight  are  to  be  made 
subject  to  collection  of  money  for  goods  at  the  other  end,  or 
"C.  O.  D.  by  freight,"  an  "Order  Bill  of  Lading"  (Fig.  33)  is 
required.  This  bill  of  lading  contains  a  special  clause  not 
found  in  the  other,  which  reads  as  follows : 

"The  surrender  of  the  original  ORDER  bill  of  lading  prop- 
erly indorsed  -shall  be  required  before  the  delivery  of  the 
property.    Inspection  of  property  covered  by  the  bill  of  lading 


68 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


Cm  «•  I*  mMCUtn  «itb  Ui«  $taA4ar4  iirm  »l  Strai«hi  BUI  M  Udlng  ipprmtd  by  tke  Interslate  Comfflerea  Coanlsdon  by  Ordo  Ng.  787  ol  JuM  17,  IMML 

Railway  Company. 

THIS  MEMORANDUM  '*  ■"  KknowlMgment  that  a  bill  el  lading  has  baan  Ittuad  and  It  not  tha       Shipper*  Nn.      JDoO 


Agents  No.. 


RECEIVED,  aubjeot  to  the  claaaifications  and  lariffa  in  effect  on  the  dale  of  the  receipt  by  the  carrier  of   the  orooertv  duacnbed 
In  th«  OrigiMl  BUI  of  Uding,  f    >-   ^ 


URilorm  Bill  of  UHIng    Wiwlifi  tor*  tl  llniflU  HH  «l  Udia*  apprand  ky  Am  hrtMlUt  C««iai«rc«  Ceinaiulaa  by  Ordar  No.  787  ol  limt  27, 18IN. 

RaUway  Company. 

Shippers  N«.     Jbao 
STRAIGHT  BILL  OF  LADING— ORIGINAL — NOT  NEGOTIABLE. 


Agents  No,. 


RSCETVEO,  rabjecl  to  One  eUaifioatioiio  uui  tariffs  in  effect  on  the  dato  of  iaaue  of  thia  Original  Bill  of  Ladinc, 


at  Chicago 


J9 


the  ptoperty  described   below,  la  apparent  Rood  order,  except  aa  noted 

of    paokagee  unknown),  uiarked,  consigned  and  deatioed  aa    indicated    below,    which  aaid    Company 

■cieea  to  carry'to  ila  usual'  place  oJ  deUveiyat  said  destination,  if  on  its  road,  otherwise  to  deUver  to  another  carrier  on  the  route  to 
aud  destination.  It  is  matoallyagreed,  aa  to  each  carrier  of  all  or  any  of  said  property  over  all  or  any  portion  of  aaid  route  to  desti- 
nation, and  as  to  each  party  at  any  lime  interested  in  all  or  any  of  said  property,  that  every  service  to  be  performed  hereunder  «hall 
be  sntiiect  to  all  the  conditions,  whether  printed  or  written,  herein  «oatauied  Cmduding  oondiUoos  on  back  beieoO  and  which  are  agreed 
to  by  the  ohipper  and  accepted  for  hiuseU  and  bia  assigns. 


TK»  lUUeof  Frtight 

n  CeiUi  per  100  Lb$. 

IFtsaaial 

*" 

IF..Tla«til   IFIatClaaa 

trueiaM 

irialan 

IF^eiaaa 

IF  iaia  tt 

IF  lata  2* 

IFataetaMJ  IFMhClaaaj  IFStkClaaa 

1                     1 

lM^Add«»-N..lo, 

Destioation.. 
Boute,,  .  ■ 


-County  pL 


micus 


PEsournoN  op  Amicus  and  special  marks 


If  charges  are  to  be 
prepaid,  write  or  stamp 
here,  "To  be  prepaid." 


Received  $_ 


to  apply  in  prepayment 
of  the  charges  pn  the 
property  described 
hereoa. 


AfCQi  or  Caahl*. 


Charges  Advanced : 
S 


Shipper. 


Fta. 


jVgeat. 


■<TUa BUVn  Laomtoioba Mcaad  tor tteaUgvr  aa« scant  g( U* oani* lanliic ■ma.t 

Fig.   32.     Straight  Bill  of  Lading— Original  and   top   of  Memorandum 


TRANSPORTATION 


69 


|f 

•3 

CO 

CO 

o 
S, 

(D 

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1 

5  1 
1  i 

a 

5" 

at) 

§ 

ft) 

i| 

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O 
3 

ll 

II 

5;  ^.  I 

o      o. 


I       5' 


-^ 

3 

s.i 

[l 

: 

'0     ! 

~ 

"•I   1 

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2    ! 

■"   1 

£ 

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-i-i 

11 

■ 

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H     2. 


W     S  ? 


»     2,0.  -;;  «-^ 
Z    I.5SSSO 


25 


-       „  J-     p- 
&  ^  =  §  «  5- 

B  ^  o  -    K^  * 


s 

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o    2 


70 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


will  not  be  permitted  unless  provided  by  law  or  unless  permis- 
sion is  indorsed  on  the  original  bill  of  lading  or  given  in  writing 
by  the  shipper." 

The  shipment  in  such  a  case  is  made  to  the  name  of  the 
shipper  himself  in  the  town  of  the  consignee  marked  "Notify 
So-and-So  (name  of  consignee)."  The  order  bill  of  lading  is 
then  indorsed  so  as  to  direct  the  railroad  company  to  deliver 
the  goods  to  the  consignee  on  surrender  of  that  bill  of  lading. 
This  original  bill  of  lading  is  attached  to  a  commercial  draft, 


FREIGHT  ARRIVAL  NOTICE 


CHICAOO, 


031,20  12  ^^ 


•0.   Cbtct(o  vn 

HO  1937 


Pro.  No. 


ConsiOne,     S/0  NTFY     F   G  CLARK 

Destination  Via 

LocafFrtigMOflle*  CHICAGO,  ROCK  ISLAND  &  PACIFIC  RAILWAY  CO. 


I'll ! 


Fr6m  Ro*<ll 

ism'»{  YUKON     OKLA 


COR.  TAYLOR  AND  SHERMAN  STS.        TtLCPHONC  HAMISON3220 
12/10/12 


W«y  Bill  No.\ 
and  Data        ) 


Ex.  Car 


Consignor 


CrNcndlnV-        ^gOQg      LSM3 
Orleinal  Polntl 

Y  Mgtr 


FLOUR 
CAR    HOLDIMG  IM  OUT0i  YARD  FOR  Bl 


f^' 


IL 


OF  LAOI 


4G  AND 


bISPOSITI 


OH 


Subje9t  to  tariff  regulations 
Oovarnipg  demwrrage  and 
•tor»90  charges     ^     . 


De/rrer  abore  good»  to  beanr: 


Fig-.    34.      Freight   Arrival   Notice. 


which  is  forwarded  to  a  bank  in  the  town  of  the  consignee, 
and  the  consignee  is  informed  by  letter.  As  soon  as  he  is  noti- 
fied that  the  goods  are  received  at  the  freight  house  he  goes  to 
the  bank  and  pays  the  draft  and  is  given  the  bill  of  lading, 
with  which  he  is  able  to  obtain  the  goods  from  the  railroad. 

When  a  freight  shipment  is  received  the  railroad  sends  to 
the  consignee  a  ''Notice  of  Arrival"  (Fig.  34).  S/O  means 
''Shipper's  Order,"  indicating  this  is  a  C.  O.  D.  shipment.  At 
the  bottom  of  this  is  an  order  form  to  be  filled  out  directing 


TRANSPORTATION 


71 


the  railroad  to  deliver  the  package  or  packages  to  the  drayman 
to  whom  this  notice  is  then  given  w^ith  money  or  check  to  pay 
the  freight  charges.  In  case  of  an  ordinary  shipment  on  a 
straight  bill  of  lading,  this  is  all  that  is  necessary.  In  case  of 
an  ordinary  shipment  a  Freight  Bill  (Fig.  35)  may  serve  as 
notice  of  arrival. 


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Fig.    35.      Ordinary    Freight   BiU. 

Do  not  overlook  the  fact  that  the  railroad  allows  only  two 
days  or  such  a  matter  in  which  to  get  the  goods,  after  which 
storage    (called   "demurrage")    is   charged. 

Passenger  Traffic 

Secretaries  are  often  asked  by  their  managers  to  look  up 
time-tables,  select  routes,  buy  tickets,  and  secure  Pullman 
berths. 

First  look  at  the  commercial  map  and  see  what  routes 
there  are  to  the  destination.  If  the  town  or  station  is  not 
shown  on  this  map  it  may  be  necessary  to  look  in  the  index 
of  the  Official  Railway  Guide,  a  thick  book  which  costs  a  dollar. 
That  will  show  all  the  railroads  having  lines  into  that  town. 


n  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

Then  secure  time-tables  of  all  the  lines  by  which  the  desti' 
nation  may  be  reached.  The  first  problem  will  be  to  find  the 
right  time-table  when  there  are  many  in  the  same  railway 
system.  If  there  are  many  branch  lines  and  stations,  there 
will  probably  be  an  index  showing  the  numbers  of  the  tables 
in  which  the  station  appears,  and  each  of  these  must  be  ex- 
amined in  turn  to  see  which  table  shows  the  time  for  the  route 
required. 

Always  look  first  for  the  name  of  the  destination,  and  then 
for  the  name  of  the  starting  point.  If  both  cannot  be  found 
in  one  table,  it  will  be  necessary  to  search  for  some  junction 
or  transfer  point  and  trace  the  route  from  the  starting  point 
to  the  junction  point,  and  then  from  the  junction  to  the  desti- 
naion.    Or  there  may  even  be  two  or  three  transfers. 

Next  look  for  the  time  of  the  trains,  first  the  starting  time 
and  then  the  time  of  arrival.  Observe  that  p.  m.  time  is  usu- 
ally printed  in  black,  and  a.  m.  time  in  light-faced  type,  but 
this  should  be  verified  by  looking  also  for  the  letters  a.  m.  or 
p.  m.  On  a  slip  of  paper  write  first  the  name  of  the  railroad, 
and  then  the  starting  time  of  each  possible  train.  In  a  line 
below  write  the  time  of  arrival  of  each  train.  Do  this  for  each 
possible  route. 

This  is  the  information  which  the  manager  needs  in  order 
to  decide  which  way  he  will  go  and  at  what  hour  he  will 
start.  The  time  of  arrival  of  each  train  will  be  very  important 
often  in  determining  the  route  and  particular  train. 

When  the  route  and  train  have  been  decided,  the  secretary 
is  very  likely  to  be  asked  to  buy  the  ticket  and  also  the  sleeper. 
At  least  the  secretary  should  telephone  to  the  office  of  the  rail- 
road and  have  a  berth  reserved,  and  at  the  same  time  find  out 
the  exact  fare  to  destination  and  the  price  of  the  berth  (upper 
berths  are  about  20%  cheaper  than  lower  berths,  but  unless 
there  is  a  clear  order  to  secure  an  upper  berth  it  is  assumed 
that  a  lower  berth  will  be  secured  if  there  is  one,  and  inquiry 
made  of  the  manager  before  accepting  an  upper  berth).  The 
manager  needs  to  know  the  exact  fare,  so  as  to  provide  him- 


HOW  TO  PREPARE  LEGAL  FORMS  73 

self  with  the  proper  amount  of  money.  The  secretary  should 
inquire  the  amount  of  money  desired,  make  out  a  "Cash"  check 
for  the  amount,  and  secure  it  from  the  bank  in  time. 


CHAPTER  VH 

How  to  Prepare  Legal  Forms 

The  student  must  not  suppose  that  because  there  are  many 
different  kinds  of  legal  forms,  there  are  as  many  different 
styles  of  arrangement  and  typewriter  display. 

There  is  in  general  only  one  form  of  typewriter  display, 
and  that  holds  good  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  Simple  forms 
require  little  display,  as  for  example,  contracts,  deeds,  bonds, 
etc.,  which  are  not  prepared  for  use  in  courts.  In  these  the 
significant  words  at  the  beginning  of  certain  paragraphs  are 
capitalized,  and  that  is  all.  Court  forms  and  affidavits  (which 
are  chiefly  though  not  exclusively  used  in  courts)  follow  a 
pretty  generally  fixed  style  (which,  however,  may  be  consid- 
erably varied  according  to  the  taste  of  the  operator),  with 
essentials  as  follows: 

(1)  All  documents  employed  in  suits  or  proceedings  in 
courts,  and  affidavits,  commonly  begin  with  what  is  called 
the  "venue"  (state  and  county,  followed  by  ss). 

(2)  Then  follows  the  name  of  the  court  and  the  term  of 
the  court  if  the  case  is  in  court. 

(3)  The  third  item  is  the  title  of  the  case,  usually  the 
name  of  the  plaintiff  vs.  the  name  of  the  defendant,  and  oppo- 
site that  the  number.  In  modern  practice,  every  case  is  num- 
bered, and  often  has  two  numbers,  a  general  number  and  a 
term  number.  The  number  should  always  appear  in  the  title, 
and  in  many  cases  there  is  no  other  description. 

(4)  Centered  in  the  next  line,  and  in  capitals,  is  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  document,  as  "Declaration,"  "Plea,"  "Intervening 
Petition,"  "Bill  of  Exceptions,"  or  the  like. 


74 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


o 

o 
o 

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00 
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U 

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HOW  TO  PREPARE  LEGAL  FORMS  75 

(5)  Finally  comes  the  formal  opening  of  the  document, 
starting  as  an  ordinary  paragraph.  These  formal  openings 
are  differently  arranged  and  differently  capitalized,  but  the 
style  in  those  respects  is  purely  a  matter  of  taste  with  the 
typewriter  operator.    The  simplest  form  is  usually  the  best. 

There  is  one  universal  rule  for  legal  papers — EVERY  IM- 
PORTANT FACT  SHOULD  BE  SHOWN  IN  ITS 
PROPER  PLACE,  SO  THAT  IT  CAN  BE  SEEN  AT  A 
GLANCE.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  making  the  papers  look 
pretty,  but  of  having  them  read  at  a  glance  so  the  most  im- 
portant facts  will  appear  most  in  evidence,  will  meet  the  eye 
first  and  most  clearly.  The  great  fault  to  be  guarded  against 
is  leaving  out  some  important  point  through  oversight. 

Forms  of  Contract 

A  usual  form  of  contract  is  shown  in  Fig.  36  on  the  op- 
posite page. 

Another  form  commonly  used  begins  "MEMORANDUM 
OF  AGREEMENT  entered  into  this  first  day  of  August,"  etc. 
The  same  general  style  of  display  is  used  in  deeds  and  bonds, 
deeds  commonly  beginning  "THIS  INDENTURE"  in  capi- 
tals, and  bonds  beginning  "KNOW  ALL  MEN  BY  THESE 
PRESENTS." 

In  a  contract  the  words  "party  of  the  first  part"  and 
"party  of  the  second  part"  are  merely  legal  verbiage,  and  in 
these  days  many  lawyers  avoid  them.  A  contract  between 
a  corporation  and  a  bank  acting  as  trustee  may  identify  the 
parties  by  saying,  "hereinafter  called  the  CORPORATION" 
and  "hereinafter  called  the  TRUSTEE";  or  a  contract  be- 
tween a  company  and  a  man  named  Bassett  may  identify  the 
parties  by  saying  "hereinafter  called  the  COMPANY"  and 
"hereinafter  called  BASSETT." 

A  printed  form  of  contract  may  be  found  on  page  86. 

All  that  is  needed  in  a  legal  contract  is  a  clear  indication 
of  the  intention  of  the  parties. 


7(>  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

Legal  Notices 


Etate  of  Illinole  ) 

)BS. 

County  of  Cook    ) 


In  the,  matter  of  the  Estate  ) 
of  Alfred  Baker,  deceased) 


In  the  Probate  Court  of  Cook  County 


.,*  TO  Edwin  Famam,  surety  on  the  bond  of  Charles  Davis,  adoinistfator  of 
Alfre(^  Baker,  deceased: 

TAKE  NOTICE  that  the  undersigned,  administrator  of  the  estate  of  Alfred 
Baker,  deceased,  will,  at  the  June  term  of  said  court  to  be  holden  at  the 
county  court  house  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  county  of  Cook,  on  the  8th  day  of 
fl5*®',n,-  ••  P^°'  *®"der  to  said  court,, for  its  acceptance,  his  resignation  of 
the  office  of  administrator  of  the  estate  of  said  Alfred  Baker,  deceased 


Administrator  of  the  Estate  of 
Alfred  Baker,  deceased. 


Fig.  37.  Form  for  Legal  Notice. 

(1)  The  "venue"  customarily  appears  in  all  legal  papers 
as  the  first  item.  It  is  required  by  law  in  all  affidavits.  Either 
"Cook  County"  or  "County  of  Cook"  is  correct. 

(2)  The  name  of  the  court  may  be  put  all  in  capitals,  or 
as  shown  here.  When  a  case  is  already  before  the  court,  the 
term  of  court  should  always  appear  as  part  of  this  item,  in  the 
line  immediately  following. 

(3)  The  name  or  names  of  the  persons  chiefly  concerned 
in  the  business  in  hand  is  the  essential  part  of  the  title.  It  is 
never  put  in  the  middle,  but  always  on  the  lefthand  side. 

(4)  The  peculiarity  of  notices  as  such,  so  far  as  the  type- 
writer is  concerned,  is  that  the  person  to  whom  the  notice  is 
addressed  is  introduced  next,  the  words  beginning  as  an  ordi- 
nary paragraph,  and  a  colon  appears  at  the  end  of  the  address. 
Then  the  body  of  the  document  begins  a  new  paragraph  with 
the  words  ''Take  Notice,"  which  may  well  be  written  in  capi- 
tal letters  so  as  to  show  instantly  just  where  the  real  notice 
begins. 


HOW^  TO  TREPARE  LEGAL  FORMS  77 

Court  Pleadings 


state  of  Illinois  ) 

)S8. 

County  of  Lake    ) 


The  Montgomery  Company, 

a  corporation. 

Plaintiff 

vs. 

The  Hellman-Ringling  Company, 

a  corporation,  et  al  , 
Defendants. 


IN  THE  CIRCUIT  COURT  OF  LAKE  COUNTY, 
To  the  June  Tern  of  said  Court,  A.D.,  1910. 


No   1849 


INTERVENING  P2TITI0J  0'  CREDITORS 

To  the  Honorable,  the  Judges  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Lake  Count > ,  in 
Chancery  sitting: 

Your  Petitioners  respectfully  represent  unto  your  Honors,  as 
follows  : 

1.   Your  petitioners  are  creditors  of  the  Hellman-Ringling  Company, 
a  corporation,  etc. 

(Complete  the  petition) 


3y_. 


Their  Solicitors 


Solicitors  for  Intervening 
Petitioners 

Fig.  38.   Form  of  Pleading. 

(1)  If  the  case  is  actually  in  court  the  term  of  court 
should  always  be  given,  and  this  information  should  always 
appear  on  the  righthand  side  of  the  page,  following  the  venue, 
and  a  little  below  it,  to  balance  the  page. 

(2)  A  clear  blank  above  and  below  *'vs."  is  considered 
necessary,  and  the  words  "plaintiff"  and  ''defendant"  should  be 
underscored,  so  that  the  exact  status  of  the  parties  may  be 
clear  at  a  glance,  but  these  words  may  be  omitted. 

(3)  The  number  of  the  case,  if  it  is  in  court,  should  always 
be  given  opposite  the  names  of  the  parties  interested.  Below 
this  may  appear  in  capital  letters,  a  description  or  special  title 
of  the  particular  document  in  hand. 


78  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

(4)  The  address  to  the  judge  may  be  put  in  capital  letters 
and  centered  on  the  page,  but  the  excessive  use  of  capital  let- 
ters, according  to  the  old  custom,  is  to  be  discouraged.  Mod- 
ern usage  prefers  small  letters,  as  they  are  more  easily  and 
quickly  read. 

(5)  Words  referring  to  the  principal  parties  are  usually 
capitalized  the  first  time  they  are  used,  but  afterwards  they 
are  not  capitalized. 

Reporter's  Transcript  of  Testimony 

When  a  court  reporter's  testimony'is  written  up  it  is  always 
for  some  special  purpose,  and  should  be  headed  in  the  form  of 
a  legal  document.  The  usual  form  is  that  of  a  Bill  of  Excep- 
tions, but  in  a  divorce  case  it  is  a  Certificate  of  Evidence.  See 
Fig.  39. 

(1)  The  ordinary  stenographer  is  more  likely  to  take  tes- 
timony as  a  deposition,  which  is  evidence  taken  at  a  distance 
from  the  place  of  trial,  as  when  a  firm  sues  for  a  debt  con- 
tracted by  mail  or  on  an  order  sent  in  through  a  traveling 
man.  The  "caption"  or  heading  of  the  case  would  be  the  same 
as  if  the  document  were  made  directly  in  court,  but  the  title 
heading  below   the   caption   would   be   "DEPOSITION    OF 

,"  and  the  text  would  then  read  about  as  follows, 

without  any  particular  display :    "The  deposition  of 

of ,  County  of ,  and  State  of , 

a  witness  of  lawful  age,  produced,  sworn  and  examined  upon 

his  corporeal  oath  on  the day  of ,  in  the 

year  of  our  Lord ,  at  the  office  of ,  a  No- 
tary Public,  said  deposition  being  taken  under  the  authority 
and  in  pursuance  of,"  etc.  The  questions  are  often  written 
out  as  they  are  to  be  asked,  blanks  being  left  for  the  answers, 
and  are  then  called  "interrogatories." 

(2)  If  this  were  a  divorce  case  we  should  have  "Certifi- 
cate of  Evidence"  in  place  of  "Bill  of  Exceptions,"  and  follow- 
ing the  title  "IT  IS  CERTIFIED  that  heretofore,  to  wit,  on  the 


HOW  TO   PREPARE  LEGAL  FORMS 


79 


State  of  Illinois  ) 

)ss. 
County  of  Lake    ) 


The  Montgomery  Co., 

Plaintiff 


The  Hellman-Ringling  Co. 
Defendant 


IN  THE  CIRCUIT  COURT  OF  LAKE  COUNTY, 
At  the  November  TeiTn  of  said  Court,  A.D. ,  1910. 


No.  189 


BILL  OF  EXCEPTIONS 


BE  IT  REMEMBERED,  That  heretofore,  to  wit,  on  the  tenth  day  of  November, 
A.D.,  1910,  being  one  of  the  days  of  said  term  of  said  Court,  this  cause  came 
on  for  trial  before  the  Honorable  Richard  f.  Groat,  one  of  the  Judges  of  said 
Court,  sitting  on  the  common-law  side  thereof,  and  a  Jury,  upon  the  pleading 
heretofore  filed  therein; 


APPEARANCES : 


Mr  Charles  I.  Routledge 

For  the  Plaintiff; 

Mr  John  Dak  in, 


For  the  Defendant. 

WHEREUPON,  The  plaintiff  to  maintain  the  issues  on  his  part  introduced 
the  following  evidence,  to  wit: 

OTTO  CHRISTIAN  ERICSON, 

produced  as  a  witness  upon  behalf  of  the  plaintiffs,  being  duly  ewom  testi* 
f ied  as  follows  : 


DIRECT  EXAMINATION 
By  Mr.  Routledge  : 

Q  What  is  your  name?  A  Otto  Christian  Ericson^ 

Q  Where  do  you  live?  A,  At  2020  Indiana  Avenue,  Edgewater,  Illinois, 
a  suburb  of  Chicago. 

Q  What  is  your  occupation?  A  Isporting  grocer. 

* 
Q  What  firm  are  you  engaged  with?  A  Merwin  i  Co. 

Q  And  their  place  of  business?  A  At  137  Monroe  Street 

Fig.  39.   Reporter's  Transcript  of  Testimony. 

tenth  day,"  etc.  In  a  criminal  case  the  plaintiff  would  be  "The 
People,"  and  instead  of  "Bill  of  Exceptions"  we  should  have 
"Indictment  for  Perjury"  or  the  like.  Notice  that  if  the  names 
are  short  and  there  is  plenty  of  room  on  the  page,  the  special 
title  of  the  document  may  be  placed  to  the  right  of  the  number. 
(3)  It  is  the  judge  who  really  certifies  all  records  of  evi- 
dence, and  at  the  end  of  the  testimony  the  following  form  is 
used: 


80  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

"AND  FORASMUCH  AS  the  matters  above  set  forth  do 
not  otherwise  appear  of  record,  the  complainant  tenders  this 
certificate  of  evidence,  and  asks  that  the  same  may  be  signed 
and  sealed  by  the  Judge  before  whom  said  cause  was  heard. 

"Which  is  accordingly  done  this  tenth  day  of  November, 
A.  D.  1919. 

" Seal. 

"Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Lake  County." 

(4)  It  would  look  better  and  be  more  strictly  correct  to 
make  every  question  a  paragraph  and  every  answer  a  para- 
graph ;  but  to  economize  space  (the  lawyers  pay  the  reporter  so 
much  a  page  and  don't  like  to  have  the  matter  strung  out  too 
much),  the  answers  may  be  run  in  after  the  questions,  but  the 
questions  should  always  appear  as  paragraphs. 

Affidavit 

The  following  is  an  affidavit,  intended  to  be  attached  to 
the  petition  of  creditors,  previously  given.  In  an  affidavit  the 
"venue"  is  of  indispensable  legal  importance. 

State  of  Illinois  ) 

1      )ss. 
County  of  Lake    ) 

Dsiniel  Hurley,  being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  he  is  the 

agent  in  this  behalf  of  the  creditors  named  in  the  petition  attached  hereto, 

and  that  he  has  read  the  said  petition,  and  knows  the  contents  thereof,  and 
that  the  same  is  true. 


Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me 
this  23rd  day  of  January,  A.  D  1903. 


Notary  Public. 

Fig.  40.   Affidavit. 

Manuscript  Covering 

Legal  papers  and  the  like,  when  prepared  with  formal  care, 
should  have  a  proper  covering  of  heavy  manila  or  colored 
paper.  The  cover  paper  should  be  the  same  width  as  the 
manuscript   paper  or  a   trifle   wider,   and   about   three-quar- 


HOW  TO  PREPARE  LEGAL  FORMS 


81 


ters  of  an  inch  to  an  inch  wider.  Holes  should  be  punched 
in  the  top  of  the  manuscript  and  corresponding  holes  in  the 
cover  paper.  The  cover  paper  is  then  laid  on  the  manuscript 
so  that  the  top  ends  of  each  overlap,  the  top  end  of  the  cover 
facing  toward  the  bottom  of  the  manuscript,  and  coming  about 
three-quarters  of  an  inch  over  the  top  end  of  the  manuscript. 
Brass  fasteners  are  then  put  through  the  holes  and  bent  down 
at  the  back  of  the  manuscript.  Next  the  cover  is  carefully 
folded  down  over  the  back  of  the  manuscript,  so  as  to  make  a 


-a  >-* 

3  O        n^ 
PC 

n  O 

0)  *» 

r-i  ♦» 

f^  < 


fold  over  the  entire  top  end  of  the  manuscript.  Notice  that 
the  bent-down  brass  paper  fasteners  come  inside  the  cover, 
but  do  not  include  it.  This  leaves  the  back  of  the  cover  smooth 
so  the  rough  fastener  ends  will  not  catch  or  scratch. 

Fig.  41  shows  how  the  cover  of  a  legal  document  is  written 
upon  to  form  the  outside  description.  This  narrow  backing 
should  be  carefully  placed  between  two  folds,  the  second  space 
from  the  top.  To  get  the  cover  into  the  typewriter  it  will  have 
to  be  folded,  but  the  fold  should  come  where  a  manuscript 
fold  ought  to  be,  anyway,  so  as  not  to  make  an  extra  crease  in 
the  cover.  Usually  the  bottom  quarter  can  be  folded  up  inside, 
and  the  writing  will  then  come  in  the  middle  of  the  surface 
remaining.  This  will  be  the  most  convenient  place  for  getting 
it  all  in  without  interference  with  the  end  stops  of  the  type- 
writer carriage. 


82  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

Every  operator  should  be  able  to  copy,  forms  of  this  kind 
neatly : 

SPECIFICATIONS 

by 

JOHH  SMITH,  ARCHITECT, 

Por  two-story  Brick  and  Frame  Residence  for  Mr.  J.  Pox, 

Momence.  Illinois. 


MASONRY. 


Excavation;  Excavate  thj  ground  to  the  depth  shown  by  the  drawings  for 
area  and  'rear  basement  only,  and  one  foot  larger  all  around  than  the  outside 
of  the  building. 


Dig  trenches  for  the  footings  of  all  the  walls  to  the.  depth  shown  by  the 
drawings.  Fill  up  and  level  around  building  as  shall  be  directed  by  owner, 
using  black  soil  for  top  filling.  Leave  bottom  of  basement  level. 

Street,  water,  and  building  permits  to  be  taken  out  and  paid  for  by  the 
mason  contractor. 

Stone  Work:   Footings  shall  be  of  rubble  stone.  All  stone  and  brick  worh 
laid  in  mortar  as  follows:   One  part  lime,  three  parts  sharp,  clean  sand, 
measured. 

Brick  Work;  All  brick  for  walls,  piers,  chimneys  and  fireplaces  must  be 
good,  hard,  well  burned  common  brick,  laid  above  ground  in  lime  mortar,  made 
in  the  proportion  of  two  parts  sand  ajid  one  part  lime. 

Outside  of  area  walls  should  be  plastered  on  outside  1-2"  thick  with 
Portland  Cement  mortar. 

Build  chimneys  as  shown  on  plans,  fill  all  Joints  with  mortar,  and 
plaster  the  inside  of  all  flues  entire. 

Press  Br4.ck:  Chimney  above  roof  shall  be  laid*  in  Portland  Cement  one 
part  and  sand  two  parts,  to  be  |16.00  per  M.  red  press  brick. 

Final:  Cover  chimney  with  wire  lath  and  plaster  as  required  by  City 
ordinance. 

Fig.  42.  Specifications. 

N.  B.    Underscoring  usually  in  red. 

Filling  In  Printed  Forms 

Usually  nowadays  printed  blanks  are  used  for  leases,  con- 
tracts, powers  of  attorney,  etc.,  and  the  secretary  is  called  on 


HOW  TO  PREPARE  LEGAL  FORMS  83 

to  fill  them  in.  The  important  thing  is  to  know  how  to  do  it 
correctly. 

First,  the  forms  should  be  in  duplicate,  one  for  each  party, 
and  a  carbon  copy  for  the  duplicate  is  best  because  that  is  an 
actual  duplicate. 

In  typewriting,  use  the  variable  spacer  so  as  to  get  the  type- 
writing on  the  dotted  lines  very  evenly  and  neatly. 

Blanks  may  be  filled  up  with  pen-drawn  lines  in  red  ink. 

Fig.  43  shows  a  short  lease  form.  Note  how  the  date  is 
written  in,  then  the  name  of  the  party  that  owns  the  property 
to  be  rented,  then  the  name  of  the  party  that  is  taking  the 
property  on  lease,  and  after  each  name  the  address  or  place 
gives  more  distinct  identification.  Company  names  should 
always  be  followed  by  the  words  "a  corporation,"  if  the  com- 
pany is  actually  incorporated,  or  by  "a  partnership,"  if  the 
company  is  not  incorporated,  including  the  name  of  the 
partner  making  the  lease,  as  "by  John  Smith,  one  of  the 
partners." 

Observe  that  the  lease  may  be  between  one  ''party"  and  an- 
ottier  "party"  (singular  or  plural).  Thus  the  verbs  may  be 
singular  or  plural,  and  the  reference  pronouns  may  be  "his," 
"her,"  or  "their,"  or  in  the  nominative  case  "he,"  "she,"  or 
"they."  The  lower  printed  items  have  blanks  only  for  the 
proper  pronouns. 

In  a  lease  the  total  rent  for  the  entire  term  (whether  one 
year,  two  years,  three  years,  or  the  like)  is  given  first,  and 
then  after  the  word  "payable"  the  monthly  payments  are 
stated,  usually  with  the  addition  "payable  in  advance  on  the 
first  day  of  each  month." 

Fig.  44  shows  a  printed  form  of  building  contract,  refer- 
ence being  made  to  the  plans  and  specifications  of  some  archi- 
tect who  is  named  in  the  contract. 

Fig.  45  shows  a  printed  power  of  attorney,  with  the  ac- 
knowledgement of  a  notary  public  at  the  bottom. 

Deeds  and  mortgages  are  usually  drawn  by  attorneys,  and 


84 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


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HOW  TO  PREPARE  LEGAL  FORMS 


85 


2S  1^  S3  s^sl  isil 

S^  *•  2:3  M«c.^  ^  i:  §"5 

&i  Is  5^  i|a*  «««S 

^'  a''  38  ^1*5  "£55 

23  5|  fe-  ll^S  U^l 

fs  °-  -:  !-5£-  e|s5 


S5 

3   >»  u  —  «  — 


I        i 


86  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

iV  «f August rf.  2?.  .Mneteen  fi«"»»*     *"<^    nineteen BSTWUJi 

,. The-Jterrlli  Construction  Coigpany ««.,.p-^ 

W  Ou  Itnt  part,  and — JftmftH    3lnipnon,     nf   ghiftagft,     TlUnMa 

— ****•• ''•'"••*""*f"r-»---,--r"-T"-------»--rwiPT'j>a>ty  of  th»  iteond  part: 

^ifntSSelb,  That  thi  taid  party  »f  the  first  part,  for  and  in  eontideraUon  of  the  payvient  to  be  made  *^  |hein 
•y   the  aaid  eecond   party  at  hereinafter  provided,  do  herehp  eovenant.  efnfract  and  agree  ai  COnstrUCt    a 

brick  and  concrete  fireproof  dwelling  at  4900  Magnolia  Avenue ^ 
cailcago,  Illinois- - .,. . 

ttcor^'n^  to  the  plane,   tpeeifleatione  and   drattino*,  made  hy Harrl  8Pn    JonCB ilrehitert, 

bi  good,  iUbttanttal  and  uorkmanlite  manner,  to  the  tatitfaetion  of,  and  under  the  direction  of  the  taid  itrehiteeL  rind 
taid  ftret  party  alto  doet  agrei  to  find,  proride  and  fumith  tueh  materialt  of  tueh  kindt  and  fualUiet  and  deteriptUmt 
-t  than  he  flu  proper  and  tutneieni  for completiny  and  finUhing    •a^<^   dwelling-— --,.-.  — — -« 


And  the  teeond  party  for  and  in  eonsideration  of  the  hrtt  party  eomMttly  and  faithfully  eseeuUng  the  aforaaid  work, 
and  fumithinff  alt  the  materialt  therefor,  to  at  fully  to  carry  out  thit  eontraet,  and  the  detign  aeeording  to  itt  true 
airit,  meanino    and    intent,  andjby    and    at    the    timet    mentioned,  and    to    the   full  and    complete  tatitfaetion  of  taid 

Trarrleon  Jones 

S l/te  Hrehitect  and  Superintendent  at  aforetaid,  do  hereby 

eyre,  to  pay  to  said  ^irtTthe  turn  ^  nine  .tjlOUSand^nl^^  

iMiart, in  manner  foiiomny, ou.:  0"^  quarter  whon  the  founJations  are  completed 
and  accepted,    one  quarter  when  the  roof  is  finished,   and  the 
balance  on  the  completion  of  the   entire  work— >,, 

^t  is   further   Agreed   By  the  partiet  hereto  that  in  all  cases  the  taid  party  of  the  first  part  tefori-iJUiJ 
shall  be  entitled  to  demand  or  receive  payment  for  the  uort,  or  any  part  thereof,  done  under  thit  contract,   ihalt  produce 
to  tnid  party  of  the  second  part,  a  writing  or  certificate  under  the  hand  of  the  said  strtUtect  and   JBuperintendent  aboti 
named,  stating  the  amount  due  for  materialt  furnished  and  wort  done  by  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  as  per  tontract 

^t  is  ^arlll^r  ^gre$d  That  ail  work  exhibited  or  provided  to  be  done  in  the  plant  or  dravringt,  and  naf 
mentioned  in  the  tpecifications,  or  vice  versa,  thall  be  executed  and  performed  in  litt  manner  at  iff  the  tame  wert'fviy 
mentioned  and  described  in  each  thereof,  respectively,  without  extra  charge. 

^t  is  also  ^tt^lhtlf  Agreed  That  the  said  party  of  the  second  part  may  make  ait  alterations  by  adding, 
omitting,  or  deviating  from  the  aforesaid  plant,  drawings  and  tpecifications,  or  either  of  them,  which  hO  thaU  deem 
proper,  and  the  tnid  slrchitect  thall  advise  without  impairing  the  validity  of  thit  contract,  and  in  alt  tueh  catet  (ha  taid 
drcAitect  thdlt  value  or  appraite  tueh  alteration,  and  add  to  or  deduct  from  the  amount  herein  agreed  to  be  paid  to  said 
nrst  party  the  excett  or  dejtdency  occationed  by  tueh  alteration.  It  it  further  agreed  that  in  cote  any  differenot  of 
opinion  thall  arise  between  said  partiet  in/relation  to  the  eontraet,    the    work  to  be  performed  under  it,  or  in  relation  to 

the  plans,  drawingt  and  tpecifications  hereto  altered:  the  decision.  Of Harrl  HQn    Jpriwa 

the  tdrchitect,  thall  be  final  and  binding  on  all  partiet  hereto. 

J^i  is  ^aritier  Agreed  That  the  party  of  the  teeond  part  thall  not  in  any  manner  be  answerable  or 
accountable  for  any  lott  or  damage  arising  from  negligence  or  earelessnesi  of  the  first  party  to  any  person  or  personu 
and  that  property  {lots  or  damage  by  fire  excepted);  alto  that  all  the  foregoirvi  eanditioni-  and  stiptUations  shall  be  wntuaUy 
binding  upon  executors,  administrators  and  assigns. 

^n   ^^ncSS  f^ertaf.  The  said  partiet  have  hereunto  tet  their  handt  and  tealt  tha  day  and  year  first  above 


Fig.    44.      Building   Contract. 


HOW  TO  PREPARE  LEGAL  FORMS 


87 


^mw  all  ^^[etj^lig  Ihes^  presenl^,  Sfeai 


Hamilton.   Bardwell  t  Co.,   a  corporation.' 


•flKe- 


City 


u)/ ChicaRO 


-County  of - 


Cpoi^ 


5fa/«  of Illinola hJ!3.-nuuU.  eonttihUtd  and  appointed,  and  BT  THESE 

PliESEJVTS  do make,    constitute  and  appoint Ji»n»w    fl  .    Hamil^^y] 


./  the^ CltX 

and  State  of -J^^yLJ(OTk_ 


»/_.New  Yfirk._. 


.County  of Manhattan 


-true  and  lawful  Attorney  >—for thom 


.and  I 


their 


.nam^—.  place  and  ttead  to 


bids  and  ert  er  into  contrac t • 


BChoolbooka  and  achool  supplies  t o  the  City  of  New  York 


giving  and  grantin;*  unto—^9^^0    ^  «    B^gli-lt-QB gaid  Attorney full  power  and 

atUhonty  to  do  and  perform  all  and  every  act  and  thing  whatsoever,  requisite  and  necessary  to  be  done 

in  and  about  the  premises  as  fully,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as *"*y might  or  eould 

do  if  personally  present  at  Vie  doing  thereof,  with  full  power  of  substitution  and  revocation,  hereby 

ratifying  and  confirming  all  that — thelx^ said  Attorney — or — hi >  substitute 

shaU  lawfully  do  or  cause  to  be  done  by  virtue  hereof. 


S"  ^estimonn   ^^creo[,—J^9. 


rnd  seal    this- 


seventh 


-day of- 


Jiave  hereunto  set- 

February 


CXiT 


Jumd 


19  1± 


Signeb,  Staltb  anb  Deliptreb  in  Prestnct  of  1 


.^^. 


.S^. 


Fig.  45,     Power  of  Attorney. — Ruling  in  red. 


88  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

the  necessity  for  filling  in  the  forms  is  largely  confined  to  the 
stenographers  or  secretaries  of  attorneys.  Deeds  and  mort- 
gages when  made  must  be  sent  to  the  "Recorder  of  Deeds"  of 
the  county  in  which  the  property  is  located,  and  for  a  variable 
fee  (usually  a  dollar  or  two)  he  records  the  instrument  and  the 
recording  makes  it  legally  effective. 

The  Law  of  Contracts 

About  the  only  law  that  a  private  secretary  needs  to  know 
is  the  ordinary  law  of  contract. 

A  contract  may  be  either  oral,  in  letters,  or  in  a  formal 
document.  The  chief  objection  to  an  oral  contract  is  that 
it  is  hard  to  prove,  though  there  may  be  witnesses.  Human 
understanding  differs,  so  the  witnesses  may  disagree. 

Contracts  made  in  letters  are  very  good,  and  formal  legal 
language  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  make  them  binding.  Here 
are  the  necessary  steps : 

An  offer  must  be  made  by  the  party  of  the  first  part. 

The  offer  must  be  accepted  within  the  time  fixed  or  within 
a  reasonable  length  of  time  by  the  party  of  the  second  part, 
without  condition. 

If  a  condition  is  made,  the  condition  must  be  accepted  by 
the  party  of  the  first  part  before  the  contract  is  finally  binding. 

The  offer  of  the  party  of  the  first  part  may  be  withdrawn 
a-t  any  time  before  it  is  accepted,  but  if  within  a  reasonable 
length  of  time  a  letter  is  mailed  accepting  the  offer,  the  con- 
tract will  be  binding  as  soon  as  the  letter  is  mailed,  even  if 
at  the  same  time  a  letter  withdrawing  the  offer  was  also  mailed 
but  had  not  reached  the  party  of  the  second  part  before  he 
mailed  his  letter  accepting. 

In  all  contracts  the  "minds  of  the, parties  must  actually 
meet,"  that  is,  they  must  be  thinking  of  the  same  thing  in  the 
same  way.  If  it  can  be  shown  that  they  were  thinking  of  dif- 
ferent things,  or  in  different  ways,  the  supposed  agreement  will 
be  held  void.     In  the  case  of  a  formal  written  contract  this 


HOW  TO  PREPARE  LEGAL  FORMS  89 

difference  of  point  of  view  will  be  hard  or  impossible  to  prove, 
but  in  an  oral  contract  it  is  often  a  serious  weakness. 

A\'hen  contracts  are  made  in  a  series  of  letters,  each  letter 
should  refer  to  the  preceding  letter  by  its  date,  so  that  the 
chain  or  sequence  will  be  very  clear,  and  amounts  of  money 
or  of  anything  should  be  given  both  in  words  and  in  figures, 
to  prevent  misunderstanding  or  alteration.  Each  party  should 
keep  copies  of  his  own  letters,  and  the  copies  should  be  signed 
the  same  as  the  original  and  at  the  same  time. 

The  chief  objection  to  contracts  by  letter  is  that  the  long 
series  of  details  makes  a  confused  mass  that  may  be  hard  to 
untangle  at  some  future  time  so  as  to  decide  exactly  what  the 
agreement  was.  A  short  and  definite  offer  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  the  party  of  the  second  part  by  the  party  of  the  first  part, 
and  then  indorsed  at  the  bottom  by  the  party  addressed  with 
the  word  "Accepted"  over  his  signature  makes  a  very  good 
simple  contract. 

While  money  paid  to  bind  a  contract  is  good  evidence  of 
an  agreement,  payment  of  money  is  not  at  all  necessary,  but 
there  must  be  ''consideration,"  something  must  be  given  by 
both  parties.  A  promise  to  make  a  free  gift  is  not  an  en- 
forceable contract.  The  "consideration"  may  be  many  things 
besides  money,  as  for  example  marriage,  or  between  husband 
and  wife  "love  and  affection." 

A  receipt  for  money  is  not  binding  if  it  can  be  proved  that 
the  money  was  not  actually  delivered  or  paid  over.  In  case  of 
a  contract,  an  offer  or  "tender",  to  carry  out  or  perform  what  is 
proposed  is  sufficient,  even  if  the  party  of  the  second  part  re- 
fuses to  accept  the  goods.  If,  however,  the  party  of  the  first 
part  does  not  supply  the  precise  goods  called  for  in  the  agree- 
ment, the  party  of  the  second  part  cannot  be  forced  to  pay. 
Since  a  contract  is  always  open  to  proof  of  delivery  or  proof 
of  tender,  it  is  not  as  good  security  as  "negotiable  paper,"  as 
for  example,  a  "promissory  note"  on  which  a  judgment  can  be 
asked  in  court  without  proving  the  nature  of  the  "value  re- 
ceived" mentioned  in  every  such  note. 


90  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

In  case  of  contracts  for  service,  it  is  generally  understood 
that  those  hired  by  the  week  are  entitled  to  a  week's  notice  of 
discharge,  those  hired  by  the  month  to  a  month's  notice  of 
discharge,  but  if  some  flagrant  abuse  or  offensive  act  can  be 
proved  against  the  person  employed  it  is  considered  that  he 
has  terminated  the  contract  by  failure  to  perform  the  service 
as  agreed,  and  no  notice  of  discharge  is  required.  There  is 
no  such  thing  as  a  perpetual  contract  for  services,  though  a 
contract  may  be  made  for  a  long  period  of  years,  which 
amounts  to  much  the  same  thing. 

In  case  of  failure  of  a  business  concern,  employees  are 
usually  by  statute  preferred  creditors  for  the  amounts  due 
them  as  wages. 

Persons  who  owe  money  cannot  be  punished  if  they  actu- 
ally do  not  have  the  money  with  which  to  pay,  and  in  the  dif- 
ferent states  there  are  various  "exemptions."  For  example,  a 
workman  is  entitled  to  keep  his  tools  and  they  cannot  be  taken 
away  from  him  on  suing  him  and  getting  a  judgment  for  the 
debt.  Neither  can  his  clothes  be  taken  away,  nor  his  necessary 
household  goods,  nor  such  part  of  his  wages  as  may  be  needed 
to  feed  and  shelter  him  and  his  family.  In  any  case  it  is  not 
legal  to  take  away  the  property  of  any  man  to  satisfy  a  debt 
until  judgment  has  been  obtained  in  court  and  the  property 
can  be  taken  by  process  of  law.  If  loans  are  made  at  higher 
than  legal  rates,  the  lender  can  compel  the  payment  only  of  the 
original  principal  plus  legal  interest,  which,  however,  varies 
considerably  in  different  states. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Filing 

Filing  is  simply  storing  papers  so  you  can  find  them  quickly 
when  you  want  them  for  reference.  Some  filing  clerks  seem 
to  think  it  is  putting  papers  into  a  graveyard  from  which  they 
can  be  resurrected  only  at  the  judgment  day;  but  this  is  an 
error. 


FILING 


91 


Fij 


Eux    File. 


of  no  use  unless  a 


First,  the  filing 
must  be  done  on  a 
system,  and  the  fil- 
ing clerk  must  un- 
derstand the  system 
THOROU  G  H  L  Y. 
The  greatest  need  in 
business  offices  to- 
day is  probably 
trained  and  intelli- 
gent filing  clerks,  so 
far  as  the  office 
routine  is  concerned, 
clerk  knows  how  to 


A  filing  system 
manage  it. 

Second,  filing  must  be  done  with  great  accuracy  and  care. 
Otherwise,  the  important  paper  when  needed  cannot  be  found, 
and  the  filing  system  is  pronounced  a  failure. 

Filing  Letters.  In  small  concerns  letters  are  usually  filed 
in  the  old-fashioned  box  file  (Fig.  46).  There  are  a  number  of 
leaves  of  strong  manila  paper  with  tabs  on  the  sides  bearing 
the  letters  of  the  alphabet  (sometimes  two  or  three  letters  on 
one  tab).  Correspondence  from  persons  whose  names  begin 
with  A  is  placed  in  front  of  the  tab  A,  and  so  on.  The  latest 
letters  are  placed  in  front,  so  the  older  letters  are  at  the  back. 
This  makes  it  easier  to  find  a  letter  when  you  know  about 
when  it  was  received.  Carbon  copies  of  answers  should  be 
pinned  to  the  back  of  the  letters  to  which  they  reply,  or  the 
carbons  may  be  written  on  the  backs  of  the  letters.  This  is 
very  important. 

If  one  box  file  will  hold  all  the  correspondence  of  an  office 
for  three  months  or  six  months,  it  is  the  best  thing  to  use. 

If  the  correspondence  is  very  important  and  it  is  desired 
that  it  should  be  held  securely  in  place  where  filed,  the  Shan- 
non flat  file  may  be  used.     The  letters  are  punched  with  two 


92 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


holes  at  the  top  end,  and  by  means  of  these  holes  are  slipped 
on  two  spring  wire  arches.  Of  course,  the  top  letters  have  to 
be  turned  over  to  the  back  of  the  arches  so  as  to  put  on  fresh 
letters  at  the  right  alphabetical  point,  and  when  the  springs 
have  been  closed  they  are  turned  back  again  into  a  flat  file. 
This  is  a  very  slow  system  of  filing;  but  it  is  a  good  system 
for  important  documents  such  as  estimates,  contracts,  etc. 

The  modern  system  of  filing  for  all  classes  of  correspon- 
dence is  the  vertical  file  (Figs.  47a  and  47b,  showing  cheapest 

form  of  vertical  files,  a  stack  of 
several  units  and  a  single  unit).  It 
is  by  far  the  speediest  system  for 
filing  letters,  the  most  economical 
of  space,  and  the  most  easily  adapted 
to  a  growing  correspondence. 

The    divisions    or    "guides"    are 

about  the  same  size  and  style  as  the 

guides  in  the  box  file,  but  stand  on 

edge,  with  a  rod  running  through 

a  hole  at  the  bottom,  and  a  block 


Fig.   47a. 
Vertical  File. 


Fig.  47b. 
Section  of  Vertical  File. 


at  the  back  that  can  be  pushed  up  to  keep  the  letters  standing 
up  in  place  when  the  file  is  only  partly  filled.  It  is  in  eflfect  a 
"deep  drawer"  which  m^ty  l^e  as  much  as  t^venty-four  inches 
from  front  to  back,  and  one  drawer  will  hold  several  thousand 
letters.  Some  vertical  files  have  drawers  only  twelve  inches 
from  front  to  back. 


FILING  93 

Systems  for  Filing  Letters.  There  are  in  general  use  three 
leading  methods  of  filing  letters — the  alphabetical,  the  geo- 
graphical, and  the  numerical — each  the  best  of  its  kind  for  cer- 
tain purposes.    All  three  may  be  found  in  the  same  office. 

Alphabetical  Filing.  This  is  the  most  widely  used  system 
of  filing.  If  the  correspondence  is  small,  one  vertical  file 
drawer  should  be  sufficient,  the  alphabet  divided  thus : 

TWENTY 


A 

E 

I-J 

N-O 

T 

B 

F 

K 

P-Q 

U-V 

C 

G 

L 

R 

W 

D 

H 

FORTY 

S 

X-Y-Z 

A 

Do-Dz 

Ho-Hz 

Me-Mi-Ml 

Se-Sm 

Ba-Be-Bh 

E 

I-J 

Mo-Mu-My 

Sn-Ste 

Bi-Bri 

Fa-Fi 

Ka-Ke-Kh 

N-O 

Sti-Sz 

Bro-Bz 

Fl-Fy 

Ki-Kz 

Pa-Ph 

T 

Ca-Ci 

Ga-Gl 

La-Le-Lh 

Pi-O 

U-V 

Cl-Con 

Gm-Gz 

Li-Ly 

Ra-Ri 

W'a-We 

Coo-Cz 

Ha 

Ma 

Ro-Ry 

\\^h-Wy 

Da-Dn 

He-Hn 

Mc 

Sa-Sc-Sd 

X-Y-Z 

SEVENTY-FIVE 

Aa 

Di 

Hu 

Mi 

Sch 

Am 

Dr 

I-J 

Mo 

Se 

Baa 

E 

Ka 

Mu 

SI 

Bas 

Fa 

Ke 

My 

Sn 

Be 

Fl 

Ki 

N 

St 

Bi 

Ga 

Ko 

O 

Su 

Bo 

Gi 

La 

Pa 

Ta 

Br 

Go 

Le 

Pf 

Ti 

Bu 

Gra 

Li 

Po-Q 

U-V 

Ca 

Gro 

Lo 

Ra 

Wa 

Ce 

Haa 

McA 

Re 

We 

CI 

Hap 

McG 

Ri 

Wh 

Co 

Has 

Maa 

Ro 

W^i 

Cr 

He 

Mas 

Sa 

A\^o 

Da 

Ho 

Me 

Sc 

X-Y-Z 

94  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

These  divisions  have  been  given  in  order  that  students 
may  practice  on  placing  correspondence  in  the  right  places 
with  reasonable  speed.  Practice  guides  may  easily  be  made 
with  heavy  manila  paper  by  writing  on  them  the  divisions 
given  above,  choosing  either  of  the  three  methods. 

When  a  firm  name  is  followed  by  a  personal  signature,  the 
letter  should  always  be  filed  under  the  firm  name.  In  some 
cases  the  individual  name  alone  may  be  given,  but  if  the  sub- 
ject of  the  letter  is  not  on  a  different  topic  the  filing  clerk 
should  see  that  it  is  filed  under  the  original  heading.  To  have 
some  letters  in  one  place  and  other  letters  in  another  is  often 
the  cause  of  difficulty  in  finding  them.  Mechanical  filing  ac- 
cording to  the  signature,  without  any  consideration  of  what 
has  previously  been  done,  always  leads  to  disaster. 

In  filing  correspondence  in 
which  there  are  likely  to  be  more 
than  six  letters  from  any  one  con- 
cern it  is  best  to  use  a  folder  like 
Fig.  48.  The  name  is  written  on 
the  higher  or  projecting  side,  and 
appears  like  one  of  the  guide  tabs. 
All  letters  from  this  firm  are  to 
be  placed  in  the  folder  assigned  to 
that  firm.  If  there  are  too  many 
Folder  for  Correspondence,  letters  for  one  folder,  a  second  is 
used.  All  concerns  with  folders  are  placed  in  alphabetical 
order  in  front.  Behind  them,  loose  in  the  file,  or  in  a  miscel- 
laneous folder,  are  the  letters  with  less  than  six  from  one 
concern.  The  latest  letters  are  placed  in  front,  so  the  oldest 
may  be  looked  for  at  the  back.  No  attempt  is  made  to  keep 
them  in  alphabetical  order  within  the  alphabetical  division  in- 
dicated by  the  guide.  When  any  correspondent  among  the 
miscellaneous  gets  six  or  more  letters  he  is  given  a  folder 
with  those  in  front,  and  all  his  letters  are  taken  out  of  the 
miscellaneous  section  and  placed  in  the  folder,  which  is  then 


FILING 


95 


given  its  proper  place  in  front.  Fig.  49  shows  the  miscel- 
laneous folder  shaded ;  it  is  commonly  another  color,  say  blue. 
Remember,  IF  A  LETTER  IS  NOT  PLACED  IN  EX- 
ACTLY THE  DIVISION  WHERE  IT  BELONGS,  it  is 
LOST,  just  as  much  as  if  it  were  thrown  out  of  the  window. 


Fig.    49.      Alphabetical   File  WMth    Folders. 

Misplacing  letters  in  a  file  makes  the  file  a  graveyard  instead 
of  a  living  reference  storage  place.  Considerable  practice  is 
necessary  so  that  the  mind  will  act  quickly  in  three  dif- 
ferent ways — 

1.  Reading  the  address  with  absolute  and  uniform  cor- 
rectness (any  guessing  here  is  fatal), 

2.  Getting  the  letter  in  exactly  the  right  division, 


96 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


3.  Remembering  just  how  previous  correspondence  has 
been  filed  so  that  if  the  names  at  the  bottom  of  the  letters 
vary,  nevertheless  all  letters  will  go  into  the  same  folder  or 
division.  Filing  in  correct  alphabetical  order  is  not  enough. 
The  filing  clerk  must  use  brains  and  good  judgment. 

Geographical  Filing.  When  the  name  of  the  particular 
person  who  writes  a  letter  is  of  less  importance  than  the  place 
from  which  the  letter  comes,  geographical  filing  is  always  the 
most  useful.     For  example,  in  bank  filing  there  are  hundreds 


Fig.  50.     Geographical  File — Chicago  Subdivided  Alphabetically. 


FILING  97 

of  "First  National  Banks,"  so  that  part  of  the  name  conveys 
very  little  information;  but  the  name  of  the  town  and  state 
immediately  enables  the  filing  clerk  to  find  any  letter.  Letters 
in  regard  to  school  supplies  may  come  from  any  one  of  fifteen 
or  twenty  different  persons,  but  the  town  in  which  the  school 
is  located  and  the  name  of  the  school  as  a  subdivision  afford 
an  immediate  key  that  will  enable  any  letter  to  be  found, 
whether  you  can  remember  the  name  of  the  person  who  wrote 
it  or  not. 

In  geographical  filing  (Fig.  50)  there  will  be  center  guides 
with  the  names  of  states  clearly  printed.  Behind  each  state 
there  should  be  other  guides  with  the  names  of  the  cities  and 
towns.  The  larger  towns  may  be  printed  on  the  tabs,  and  the 
names  of  other  towns  may  be  written  on  blank  tabs. 

Observe  that  the  states  are  arranged  in  alphabetical  order. 
Then  the  towns  in  each  state  are  in  alphabetical  order.  If 
there  are  many  correspondents  in  one  city  or  town,  there 
would  be  an  alphabetical  series  of  guides  to  separate  those 
names  in  that  town.  In  towns  where  there  were  few  corre- 
spondents no  attempt  would  be  made  at  alphabetical  order, 
but  the  latest  letters  would  go  in  front,  leaving  the  oldest  at  the 
back.  One  division  marked  "Foreign"  might  receive  all  letters 
except  from  such  countries  as  Canada  or  Mexico,  from  which 
there  would  be  enough  betters  to  justify  a  special  division 
marked  Canada,  Mexico,  or  the  like. 

Numerical  Filing.  When  each  of  the  principal  customers 
of  a  business  concern  has  not  only  a  great  deal  of  corre- 
spondence with  the  house  but  is  sending  orders,  receiving  ship- 
ments, getting  credits,  tracing  losses,  etc.,  so  that  there  are  a 
great  many  different  kinds  of  papers  relating  to  the  same  busi- 
ness, as  for  example  in  the  case  of  a  wholesale  house  serving 
retail  dealers  who  are  sending  in  orders  every  few  days,  it 
saves  time  and  confusion  to  give  each  customer  a  number,  and 
then  place  that  number  on  every  letter,  order,  shipment,  re- 
ceipt, or  paper  of  any  kind  relating  to  that  house.     The  eye 


98 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


of  the  filing  clerk  learns  quickly  to  catch  a  number  out  of  its 
place  and  correct  the  error.  Numbers  are  found  more  quickly 
than  names  or  places.  They  are  written  more  quickly  and 
easily.     They  are  often  a  more  positive  identification. 

In  the  letter  file  there  is  a  folder  or  a  guide  with  a 
number  arranged  in  numerical  order.  Every  hundred  is  in 
some  different  color  or  style,  so  the  eye  easily  catches  it. 
Every  ten  or  twenty    is    usually    also    in    a    different    color 

or  style.  Then  each  in- 
dividual folder,  guide,  or 
letter  has  its  own  number, 
usually  in  the  upper  right- 
hand  corner,  or  on  tabs 
cut  away  to  show  a  di- 
agonal row  of  exposed 
numbers  across  the  file. 
The  eye  learns  to  catch 
the    hundreds,    then    the 

Fig.    51.      Numerical    File,    with   Clips.         ^^^^       ^^       twenties,       and 

finally  the  individual  numbers  with  great  rapidity  and  ac- 
curacy. That  is  a  matter  of  practice  and  personal  skill  on 
the  part  of  the  filing  clerk.     See  Fig.  51. 

An  alphabetical  card  index  shows  the  name  of  each  cus- 
tomer in  alphabetical  order,  and  his  number  on  the  corner. 
(Fig.  52.)  The  clerk  soon  learns  the  numbers  of  all  the  prin- 
cipal customers  whose  accounts  are  in  active  use  every  day. 
The  accounts  that  are  seldom  referred  to  must  be  looked  u ;> 
in  the  alphabetical  card  index  to  find  the  number. 

Numerical  filing  is  useful  only  when  the  majority  of  the 
accounts  are  very  active  and  the  numbers  can  be  remembered. 
When  reference  to  the  alphabetical  card  index  must  be  made 
all  the  time,  numerical  filing  is  a  nuisance. 

Filing  by  Subjects.  It  seldom  happens  that  general  corre- 
spondence is  filed  by  subjects,  but  in  most  offices  there  are 
certain  kinds  that  should  be  filed  in  this  way.  Letters  and 
catalogues  giving  prices  on  different  kinds  of  goods  a  pur- 


FILING 


99 


SUBJECT 

NO. 

GloVtA    DepflT^fiTiAnf.    SfnrA 

100 

CROSS  RRFERENCB 

John  Caswell,  "buyer 
!•  Ferdinand,   treas* 

Form  18 

Fig.   52.      Index  Card   for  Numerical   File. 


chasing  agent  may  have  interest  in  will  come  up  only  when  a 
purchase  of  such  goods  is  in  mind.  Of  course,  the  purchasing 
agent  will  not  remember  the  names  of  the  persons  or  concerns 
which  may  have  sent  him  catalogues  or  price-lists,  but  he  will 
wish  to  have  before  him  all  catalogues,  price-lists,  and  letters 
on  goods  of  that  kind  so  as  to  compare  them.  A  subject  file 
will  keep  these  all  in  one  folder  or  division,  and  the  subject  will 
be  written  on  the  tab.  In  a  newspaper  office,  clippings  or 
letters  on  a  vast  number  of  subjects  will  be  kept  in  a  subject 
file.  In  libraries,  books  are  usually  arranged  on  shelves  accord- 
ing to  a  subject  system,  and  then  card-indexed  according  to 
authors,  and  also  according  to  titles. 

Summary.  A  private  secretary  should  be  able  to  suggest 
the  best  way  to  file  different  kinds  of  things,  so  they  can  be 
found  most  quickly  and  conveniently,  and  also  have  some  skill 
in  finding  them  quickly,  or  in  teaching  subordinate  filing 
clerks  to  find  them  quickly  and  surely.  Here  is  a  summary  of 
the  essentials: 


100  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

1.  Filing  clerks  must  be  quick  and  accurate  at  reading 
names,  like  the  letter  distributers  in  postoffices,  and  should 
have  practice  and  be  tested  before  undertaking  filing  work. 

2.  Filing  clerks  should  have  a  quick  sense  for  catching 
the  guide  divisions  with  the  eye,  and  accuracy  in  getting  the 
letters,  etc.,  in  the  right  places  ALWAYS.  Fair  accuracy  is 
not  enough.  There  should  be  a  good  memory  for  numbers 
and  for  names,  so  all  letters  from  one  person  or  house  will 
be  put  in  the  same  place,  even  if  signed  differently. 

3.  In  alphabetical  vertical  filing,  each  correspondent  with 
six  letters  or  more  should  have  a  folder  marked  with  his  name 
or  the  name  of  the  house,  to  be  placed  in  front,  while  miscel- 
laneous correspondence  is  placed  in  a  miscellaneous  folder  or 
division  at  the  back. 

4.  The  letters  are  to  be  placed  in  front  of  the  guide  that 
forms  the  index  to  them,  not  behind.  The  latest  letters  are 
placed  in  the  front  of  any  division,  so  the  oldest  come  at  the 
back.  This  makes  it  easier  to  transfer  the  older  correspon- 
dence to  the  correspondence  files  at  intervals. 

5.  Use  alphabetical  filing  when  the  name  is  the  thing  that 
usually  comes  up  or  that  is  most  easily  remembered.  Use 
geographical  filing  for  businesses  that  extend  over  the  country, 
when  the  place  is  the  thing  most  easily  remembered  or  that 
most  naturally  comes  up  for  reference.  Use  numerical  filing 
when  there  are  very  many  different  papers  from  the  same  con- 
cern received  every  few  days,  so  that  a  number  can  be  remem- 
bered and  quickly  written  on  every  paper  of  every  kind  from 
that  house,  and  quickly  caught  by  the  eye  when  reference  is 
necessary.  Use  subject  filing  for  quotations  and  the  like  when 
the  subject  is  most  easily  remembered  and  all  correspondence 
on  that  subject  should  be  compared  when  reference  is  required. 

Transferring.  Correspondence  that  is  six  months,  a  year, 
two  years,  or  three  years  old  is  correspondingly  less  frequently 
referred  to,  and  is  usually  transferred  from  strong,  well  built, 
active  files  to  cheaper  and  less  substantial  transfer  files,  where 


FILING-  101 

it  is  kept  till  it  can  be  thrown  away.  '  TRer'e'are  two  methods 
of  transferring. 

By  one  method  there  are  two  sets  of  files  standing  side  by 
side.  The  first  set  of  files  is  filled  during  six  months,  and  then 
during  the  next  six  months  the  second  set  of  files  is  filled. 
When  that  set  of  files  is  full,  obviously  the  letters  in  the  first 
set  of  files  will  be  six  months  old,  and  can  be  taken  out  and 
placed  in  transfer  files,  which  are  nothing  more  than  cheap 
pasteboard  or  wooden  filing  cases,  which  are  all  right  because 
they  w^ill  seldom  be  handled.  They  may  be  small  boxes  sitting 
in  rows  on  shelves,  or  they  may  be  deep  drawers  twelve 
inches  or  twenty-four  inches  from  front  to  back. 

The  second  method  uses  only  one  set  of  active  files  large 
enough  to  hold  all  the  correspondence  for  a  year  or  a  year  and 
a  half.  At  intervals  of  six  months  the  filing  clerk  goes 
through  the  files  and  takes  out  all  the  letters  at  the  back  of 
each  division  which  are  more  than  six  months  or  a  year  old 
and  places  them  in  transfer  files  as  described  above.  On  this 
account  it  is  very  important  that  the  older  letters  should 
always  be  at  the  back. 

Transfer  files  are  marked  with  the  dates,  as  *'from  October, 
1912,  to  April,  1913."  A  transfer  guide  card  may  be  kept  in 
the  front  of  every  active  file,  and  when  correspondence  is 
transferred  a  notation  made  giving  the  exact  dates  from  which 
to  which  letters  have  been  transferred. 

The  "Out"  Guide.  Since  filing  clerks  are  made  responsible 
for  finding  letters  quickly  and  surely,  and  will  be  blamed  if 
they  cannot  be  found,  it  is  exceedingly  important  that  they 
should  not  permit  anyone  to  go  to  the  files  and  take  out  letters 
without  their  knowledge.  When  a  letter  is  taken  out,  a  guide 
with  a  tab  marked  "out,"  in  a  special  color,  should  always  be 
inserted  in  its  place,  and  on  that  guide  should  be  written  the 
date  w^hen  taken,  by  whom  taken,  and  when  returned  by  whom 
returned,  with  the  name  or  number  of  the  correspondent,  so  if 
any  sheets  are  missing  they  can  be  traced.     Strict  adherence 


n  :! 


102 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


7m         V 


rccrV 


'WTBCTfV. 


S^3: 


to  this  rule  will  prevent  a  great  deal  of  trouble  for  the  filing 
clerks  and  all  concerned.  Ruling  is  similar  to  that  of  Card 
Form  17,  but  the  word  "Out"  is  best  on  a  tab  at  the  top. 

Card-Index  Filing. 

Guides  are  the  heavy  cards  that  separate  the  different  divi- 
sions. Each  guide  usually  has  a  tab  on  the  upper  edge,  which 
may  be  only  a  projection  of  the  paper,  or  may  be  celluloid  or 
metal  fastened  to  the  paper. 

In  order  that  tabs  may  not  conceal  each  other  they  are 
placed  at  different  points  on  the  edge  of  the  card  from  left  to 
right,  and  a  number  of  them  form  a  diagonal  across  a  tray 
of  cards. 

When  the  entire  space  is  di- 
vided into  two  parts,  one-half  cut 
away  and  the  other  projecting, 
the  guides  are  said  to  be  half 
cuts;  when  into  thirds,  one-third 
projecting  at  the  left,  one-third 
on  another  card  in  the  middle,  and 
one-third  on  another  card  on  the 
right,  the  guides  are  said  to  be 
cut  thirds,  and  so  on  with  quar- 
ters, fifths,  and  tenths.  Tenths 
are  used  for  numerical  filing.  The 
full  cut  is  also  used.  Cuts  are  the 
same  for  large  letter  guides  and  for  small  card  guides.  See 
Fig.  53. 

Guides  should  be  selected  which  have  tabs  wide  enough 
for  the  index  words  or  names  to  be  written  easily  upon  them. 

Standard  Card  Sizes.  There  are  only  three  standard  sizes 
used  by  all  card-index  manufacturers,  and  cases  and  outfits  in 
all  particulars  are  designed  to  accommodate  only  these  three 
sizes. 

They  are  3x5  inches,  4x6  inches,  and  5x'8  inches.  The  first 
two  usually  stand  on  the  long  edge,  in  a  drawer  five  or  six 


L£J 

Fig.    53. 

Showing  Different  Cuts   for 

Guides. 


FILING 


103 


inches  wide  and  three  or  four  inches  deep.  The  5x8  cards 
usually  stand  on  end,  in  a  drawer  five  inches  wide  and  eight 
inches  deep.  They  are  the  common  ledger  card.  The  4x6 
cards  may  also  stand  on  end.  Card  systems  designed  for  odd 
sizes  are  nearly  always  impracticable. 

Clips.  Small  clips,  often  of  different  colors,  may  be  slipped 
on  the  upper  edge  of  any  card  to  call  attention  to  it.  In  the 
case  of  following  up  prospects,  when  it  is  desired  that  letters 
be  sent  at  fixed  dates  two  weeks  or  ten  days  apart,  the  cards 
used  have  the  numbers  from  1  to  31  printed  in  a  row  across 
the  upper  edge,  each  number  indicating  a  day  of  the  month. 
The  clip  is  placed  on  the  proper  day,  and  the  filing  clerk  will 
easily  guess  by  the  position  just  which  day  this  name  should 
come  up  for  a  follow-up  letter.  At  the  same  time  all  the  cards 
are  in  regular  alphabetical  order,  and  when  a  prospect  writes 
in,  his  card  can  be  found  instantly.  Yet  all  who  need  attention 
are  distinguished.  If  the  follow-up  is  to  be  carried  out  re- 
gardless of  replies,  a  different  system  will  be  more  convenient. 
See  Figs.  51  and  54. 


i    2    3    4    5   6    1    8    9    lolupz    13    14    15    16    17    13    n    20   21    22    23    24    :S    26    27    28    29    a>    31 


JjSis. 


Ind, 


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Globe  Department    Store 


luting 


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Form  2  Copyright,  1 909,  by  Shtrwin  Cody 

Fig.  54.    Follow-up  Cards  on  Which  Clip  May  B^  Used. 


104  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

Foilow-Up  Letter  System.  When  the  follow-up  letter 
should  be  personally  dictated,  or  may  vary  to  correspond  to 
different  classes  of  ''prospects"  (persons  or  firms  who  may  be- 
come customers,  or  who  have  made  inquiries  looking  to  future 
purchase),  the  following  system  is  the  best : 

The  letter  is  given  a  folder  on  the  side  of  which  is  printed 
blank  spaces  for  recording  what  letters  and  circulars  have  been 
sent  (Fig.  55).  One  column  is  marked  by  the  correspondent 
with  the  date  on  which  the  letter  is  to  come  up  again  for  at- 
tention. The  filing  clerk  on  receiving  this  letter  makes  out 
a  card  with  the  name  or  number  and  date  on  which  the  letter 
is  to  be  called  up,  and  places  it  in  a  special  file,  which  may  have 
a  set  of  center  guides  showing  each  month  of  the  year,  each 
month  guide  being  followed  by  28  to  31  day  guides,  one  for 
each  day  of  the  month.  The  card  that  has  been  made  out  is 
placed  in  front  of  the  guide  showing  the  date  on  which  it  is 
to  be  called  up,  which  may  be  months  in  advance.  Then  the 
folder  with  the  letter  is  placed  in  its  alphabetical  order  in  the 
regular  letter  file.  If  the  prospect  writes  in  before  the  date 
set  for  future  attention,  the  correspondent  will  call  for  the 
letter  file  folder  and  after  dictating  his  reply  will  change  the 
call-up  notation.  The  filing  clerk  should  notice  this  when  the 
folder  comes  back  for  filing  and  take  out  the  call-up  card  from 
the  file  of  days  and  months. 


A  more  extended  discussion  of  looseleaf  and  card  systems 
will  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  book. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Duties  of  a  Private  Secretary: 
Meeting  people,  telephoning,  sending  telegrams  and  cables, 
looking  up  references. 

A  private  secretary  is  a  success  largely  in  proportion  to 
the  development  of  diplomatic  ability  in  handling  people. 


DUTIES  OF  A  PRIVATE  SECRETARY 


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In  the  first  place,  tartness  of  speech,  indifference  of  man- 
ner, losing  one's  temper  under  any  provocation,  disqualify  the 
private   secretary.     These   are   negative   qualities,   but   they 


106  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

spring  from  lack  of  cultivation  of  a  very  positive  and  important 
quality,  self-control.  An  iron  self-control  is  the  leading  char- 
acteristic of  an  executive,  and  the  private  secretary  must  be  a 
substitute  executive,  a  little  manager,  a  reflection  of  the  head 
of  the  house,  only  more  suave  and  diplomatic  and  adaptable. 
In  these  last  characteristics  the  private  secretary  must  be  su- 
perior to  the  manager.  He  is  hired  for  his  expertness  in  these 
lines,  just  as  an  expert  accountant  is  hired  for  his  expertness  in 
figures  and  accounts,  a  stenographer  for  his  expertness  in 
shorthand  and  typewriting,  etc.,  subjects  of  v^hich  the  manager 
knows  little  or  nothing. 

Women  make  ideal  private  secretaries  and  assistants  to 
the  manager;  They  have  the  advantage  over  men  that  they  are 
more  sympathetic  with  the  original  ideas  and  desires  of  their 
superiors,  better  reflectors,  than  men.  They  rather  lack  the 
strength  and  force  of  character  to  handle  difficult  people  and 
make  them  do  the  things  desired,  but  in  executing  a  multitude 
of  peaceful  details  they  are  distinctly  superior  to  men,  as  a 
class.    There  are  exceptions  on  both  sides. 

The  first  duty  of  a  private  secretary  is  to  meet  callers  in 
the  absence  of  the  manager,  or  to  shield  him  from  time- 
wasting  callers  when  he  is  in  his  private  office.  How  shall  this 
be  done?    Let  us  give  an  illustrative  typical  conversation. 

A  business  man  enters  and  asks,  *Ts  Mr.  Jones  in?" 

Secretary:  *T  will  see."  (It  is  not  necessary  to  say  "Yes," 
even  if  you  know  he  is  in.)  **What  did  you  wish  to  see  him 
about?" 

Man :  "I  wanted  to  see  him  on  a  private  matter.  Just 
give  him  my  card."     The  card  shows  a  life  insurance  agent. 

Secretary :  "Mr.  Jones  is  very  much  engaged  this  morning. 
I  doubt  if  he  could  see  you  for  an  hour."  A  life  insurance 
agent  is  not  likely  to  be  willing  to  wait  for  an  hour. 

Man:    "When  could  I  see  him?" 

Secretary:  "It  is  hard  to  say,  he  is  always  so  busy. 
Couldn't  you  call  up  on  the  telephone  just  before  you  were 


DUTIES  OF  A  PRIVATE  SECRETARY  107 

coming  over  and  find  out?"  Man  leaves.  The  secretary  has 
got  rid  of  him  nicely,  but  takes  the  card  in  to  Mr.  Jones  so 
he  can  call  him  up  and  make  an  appointment  if  he  really 
does  wish  to  see  him.  It  is  not  safe  to  try  to  find  that  out  at 
the  time,  however. 

Another  case :    A  shabby  little  man  enters. 

Man:    "Is  Mr.  Jones  in?" 

Secretary:  "I  will  see.  Who  shall  I  saw  wishes  to  see 
him?" 

Man:     "Say  Smith  is  here." 

Secretary:    "Have  you  a  card?" 

Man  :    "No,  I  haven't." 

Secretary:    "Will  Mr.  Jones  know  who  you  are?" 

Man  :    "He  ought  to." 

The  secretary  goes  in  and  says  Mr.  Smith  wishes  to  see  Mr. 
Jones.  Mr.  Jones  never  heard  of  Smith,  or  else  knows  so  many 
Smiths  he  can't  tell  which  one  this  is,  and  asks  the  secretary  to 
find  out  what  he  wants. 

Secretary  (returning)  :  "Mr.  Jones  is  in  a  conference  just 
now.  I  am  his  secretary.  Perhaps  I  could  assist  you  to  find 
out  what  you  wish  to  know." 

Man:    "It  is  a  personal  matter.    When  can  I  see  him?'* 

Secretary :  "If  you  could  explain  to  me  what  you  wish  to 
see  him  about,  I  might  help  you  get  an  appointment." 

The  man  tells  the  secretary  what  he  wants.  The  offer  to 
help  him  with  the  manager,  made  in  a  sympathetic  tone,  was 
what  won  his  confidence. 

It  was  unsafe  to  be  rude  to  the  shabby  little  man,  as  he  may 
have  been  president  of  the  biggest  corporation  with  which  the 
firm  was  doing  business.  If  he  was  important,  Mr.  Jones 
would  wish  to  see  him  immediately.  He  would  be  more  irri- 
tated at  missing  an  important  caller  than  at  seeing  an  unim- 
portant one.  When  he  has  worked  for  months  to  get  Mr. 
Smith  to  come  over,  it  would  be  the  irony  of  fate  to  have  the 
private  secretary  send  him  away  on  the  supposition  that  he 


108  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

was  some  sort  of  beggar.  The  novice  is  very  likely  to  make 
the  mistake  of  sending  the  important  man  away.  It  is  really 
more  necessary  to  know  whom  to  let  in  than  whom  to  get 
rid  of. 

Telephoning 

A  private  secretary  should  have  a  good  voice,  one  that 
does  not  break  in  talking  over  the  telephone,  a  low,  sweet, 
carrying  voice.  This  can  be  cultivated  just  as  well  as  speed 
in  writing  shorthand.  The  manner  must  not  be  too  slow  nor 
too  quick.  Too  great  quickness  is  objectionable  because  many 
people  can  think  only  so  fast,  and  unless  what  is  said  to  them 
occupies  a  certain  length  of  time  it  will  not  sink  into  their 
minds  so  they  will  comprehend  it.  Too  great  slowness  irri- 
tates them.  The  golden  mean  is  particularly  valuable  in  tele- 
phoning. 

First,  how  shall  the  secretary  get  on  the  wire  a  person 
who  is  wanted  by  Mr.  Jones?  Asking  the  telephone  operator 
to  get  an  important  man  on  the  wire,  and  then  keeping  him 
waiting  four  or  five  minutes  while  the  telephone  operator  is 
getting  Mr.  Jones  is  bad  business.  The  private  secretary 
should  get  the  important  person  at  the  extension  phone  be- 
side Mr.  Jones'  desk,  so  Mr.  Jones  can  take  the  receiver  in- 
stantly, or  can  take  down  his  own  receiver  without  delay. 
The  good  private  secretary  will  be  able  to  judge  accurately 
just  when  Mr.  Jones  will  be  able  to  talk,  and  wait  until  he 
will  be  ready. 

On  calling  up  the  number  the  secretary  will  first  get  the 
central  operator  in  a  large  office,  and  will  ask  for  Mr.  Blank 
(the  important  man).  Mr.  Blank's  secretary  will  respond  and 
will  wish  to  know  who  he  is.  Mr.  Jones'  name,  position,  and 
business  should  be  stated  promptly  and  courteously,  just  as 
the  private  secretary  would  like  to  have  the  same  information 
given  to  him  or  her  by  an  outsider.  When  Mr.  Blank  is  on 
the  wire  don't  say  in  a  hurried  tone,  "Wait  a  moment,  please." 
Remember  that  Mr.  Blank  does  not  yet  know  who  it  is,  and 


DUTIES  OF  A  PRIVATE  SECRETARY  109 

his  ignorance  may  make  him  impatient.  Say  at  once,  "Is  this 
Mr.  Blank?  Mr.  Jones  of  the  Jones  Milling  Corporation 
wishes  to  speak  to  you."  This  implies  that  he  should  wait  a 
moment  without  bluntly  telling  him  to  wait. 

Now  let  us  consider  incoming  calls.  The  central  operator 
gets  a  call  for  Mr.  Jones  and  connects  with  his  wire.  The 
secretary  answers  the  telephone,  and  says,  not  "Hello,"  but 
"Mr.  Jones's  office." 

"Is  Mr.  Jones  there?" 

Secretary:  "I  will  see.  Who  shall  I  tell  him  wishes  to 
speak  with  him?" 

Mumble. 

Secretary:  "Pardon  me.  I  don't  catch  the  name.  Would 
you  kindly  spell  it?  Senton?  S  for  Samuel?  Oh,  Fenton? 
F  for  fix?  What  shall  I  tell  Mr.  Jones  you  wish. to  speak  to 
him  about?" 

Mumble. 

Secretary:  "I  am  Mr.  Jones'  secretary,  and  if  you  would 
tell  me  just  what  you  wish  I  will  try  to  find  him." 

He  wishes  some  information  which  the  secretary  can  give 
him  just  as  well  as  Mr.  Jones  himself,  and  when  he  gets  the 
information  he  no  longer  insists  on  speaking  with  Mr.  Jones. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  tell  lies  and  say  Mr.  Jones  is  out 
when  he  is  sitting  beside  you.  There  are  plenty  of  non-com- 
mittal answers  which  will  mean  delay,  and  delay  is  the  weapon 
of  the  secretary  in  putting  off  undesirable  callers.  Then  the 
offer  of  sympathetic  personal  assistance  in  getting  the  desired 
attention  is  almost  certain  to  draw  out  the  information  that 
is  desired. 

The  object,  however,  is  not  merely  to  put  off  callers,  but 
to  perform  courteously  for  the  manager  what  the  caller  de- 
sires. A  spirit  of  real  helpfulness,  even  an  eagerness  to  be  of 
service  to  all  comers,  should  be  in  the  secretary's  mind  back 
of  the  dilatory  tactics.  Some  managers  see  all  comers  because 
they  feel  that  courtesy  to  callers  of  all  classes  is  the  best  policy 


110  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

in  the  long  run.  If  a  secretary  would  intervene  and  perform 
those  courtesies  satisfactorily,  there  is  probably  not  a  manager 
who  would  not  be  delighted  and  aided.  The  waste  of  time 
with  callers  who  have  no  real  business  is  a  serious  loss  to 
nearly  all  business  men.  This  loss  is  not  as  serious,  however, 
as  the  loss  of  business  through  curtness  and  discourtesy  even  to 
those  who  appear  to  be  humble  callers.  The  small  customer 
may  at  any  time  become  the  large  customer,  and  the  rule  of 
moH'ern  business  is  and  should  be,  perfect  courtesy  to  all.  The 
humblest  fellow-citizen  is  entitled  to  courtesy. 

Telegrams  and  Cables. 

Telegrams,  when  delivered,  must  be  signed  for,  and  it  is 
usual  for  the  secretary  to  sign  the  name  of  the  superior,  fol- 
lowed by  his  or  her  own  initials  or  name. 

It  is  always  best  to  write  telegrams  to  be  sent  on  the  blanks 
furnished  by  the  companies,  either  the  Western  Union  or  the 
Postal.  When  the  telegram  is  ready,  in  most  districts  a  mes- 
senger will  be  sent  from  the  telegraph  office  on  signal  of  a 
special  messenger  call  or  request  over  the  telephone.  Usually 
messages  are  paid  in  advance,  unless  sent  in  reply  to  some 
inquiry  on  request  of  the  party  at  the  other  end,  who  in  that 
case  expects  to  pay  the  return  message  charges.  In  other 
cases  the  telegraph  company  charges  the  cost  of  the  message 
to  the  concern,  or  if  the  amount  to  be  paid  the  messenger  is 
not  known,  a  due  bill  will  be  sent  around  later. 

There  are  three  different  rates,  with  which  the  secretary 
ought  to  be  familiar. 

A  regular  day  message  allows  sending  the  full  name  and 
address  of  the  person  or  firm  to  which  the  message  is  sent,  and 
the  full  name  of  the  sender,' but  not  his  address,  with  ten  words 
in  the  body  of  the  message.  Then  additional  words  are 
charged  additional  at  one  cent  up.  Note  that  every  figure  is 
charged  as  a  word,  so  that  "125"  would  be  charged  as  three 
words.  Numbers  should  be  spelled  out,  and  "125"  written  as 
"hundred  twenty-five,"  charged  as  two  words  and  less  liable  to 


DUTIES  OF  A  PRR'ATE  SECRETARY  111 

mistake.  Figures  in  a  telegraph  message  are  dangerous  and 
objectionable. 

A  day  letter  allows  fifty  words  instead  of  ten  to  be  sent  at 
once  and  a  half  the  regular  rate  for  ten  words,  but  such  mes- 
sages are  subject  to  delay. 

A  night  letter  allows  fifty  words  at  the  regular  day  rate 
for  ten  words.    Delivery  is  made  usually  on  the  following  day. 

The  important  thing  in  writing  a  telegram  is  to  say  very 
distinctly  and  clearly  what  is  to  be  said.  It  is  usually  desir- 
able to  try  wording  the  message  in  several  different  ways  till 
the  clearest  and  most  positive  way  is  found.  All  the  small 
words  should  be  inserted  in  their  proper  places.  Do  not  write 
the  message  in  the  first  place  in  an  abbreviated  style,  as  it  is 
often  confusing  to  the  mind  of  the  writer,  who  is  thereby  mis- 
led into  vagueness. 

When  the  message  is  satisfactorily  stated  in  simple,  direct, 
clear  style,  the  writer  may  go  over  the  message  to  see  what 
small  words  would  be  clearly  understood  if  omitted.  Do  not 
leave  out  anything  you  would  not  be  sure  would  be  readily 
filled  in  by  the  person  receiving  the  message.  There  is  noth- 
ing sacred  about  the  ten-word  limit.  If  what  you  wish  to  say 
can  be  said  in  less  than  ten  words,  do  not  try  to  make  it  up  to 
ten.  At  the  same  time  if  the  message  exceeds  ten  words,  do 
not  violently  cut  out  important  words  to  make  it  within  the 
limit.  It  is  better  to  pay  a  few  cents  additional.  Especially 
try  to  avoid  words  which  might  sound  like  other  words,  or 
differ  from  words  only  by  a  letter. 

Cables  are  received  by  the  telegraph  companies  as  well  as 
by  the  cable  companies  themselves.  They  are  telegrams  that 
go  under  water  over  specially  protected  wires,  usually  to  for- 
eign countries. 

The  charge  for  cables  is  for  every  word,  including  the 
name  and  address  of  the  person  or  firm  addressed  and  the  sig- 
nature of  the  sender.  The  rates  are  comparatively  high,  as  for 
example,  twenty-five  cents  a  word  from  New  York  to  Europe. 


112  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

Registered  cable  addresses  are  arranged  to  save  words,  a 
single  registered  word  indicating  a  complete  name  and  ad- 
dress. In  order  that  there  may  be  no  confusion  the  telegraph 
or  cable  companies  will  register  at  their  offices  a  word  which 
they  look  up  and  prove  to  be  used  by  no  other  concern,  and 
which  has  not  previously  been  registered.  To  be  sure  about 
this,  all  the  companies  compare  notes.  Any  name  once  regis- 
tered is  protected  and  cannot  be  taken  by  anyone  else.  A  name 
registered  with  any  one  company  may  be  used  on  messages 
sent  over  all  others,  as  they  exchange  registers.  A  registered 
address  usually  consists  of  two  words,  one  the  name  of  the 
town  or  city,  as  New  York  (counted  as  one  word),  Chicago, 
London,  Paris,  and  the  other  indicating  the  individual  address 
in  that  town  or  city.  Thus  "Jobar,  Chicago,"  may  mean  Jones, 
Barton  &  Co.,  34  N.  LaSalle  St.,  Chicago,  Illinois."  This  ad- 
dress is  then  counted  as  two  words  in  the  message. 

Codes.  In  order  to  send  a  long  message,  business  houses 
often  use  published  code  books  such  as  the  A,  B,  C,  the  West- 
ern Union,  etc.,  or  a  privately  arranged  code.  Every  code 
word  must  be  a  real  word  in  a  recognized  language,  not  an 
arbitrary  combination  of  letters  or  figures.  No  word  should 
contain  over  ten  letters  if  it  is  to  be  charged  as  one  word.  One 
word,  as  "cod,"  may  mean  "we  are  sending  you  by  the  next 
steamer  C.  O.  D.  the  invoice  of  goods  contained  in  your  order 
of,"  the  next  word  being  the  date  of  the  order.  If  it  is  not 
possible  to  agree  in  advance  on  a  particular  code,  the  message 
may  start  "abc  code,"  indicating  that  the  rest  of  the  message 
is  to  be  interpreted  by  the  A,  B,  C  code  book. 

Cable  letters  admit  ten  or  twelve  words  at  perhaps  the 
usual  charge  for  four  or  five  (each  office  has  a  fixed  rate), 
when  delivery  may  be  delayed  until  the  next  day.  Cable  rates 
vary  in  diflferent  places  to  dififerent  countries,  because  made  up 
of  a  primary  charge  for  the  cable  itself,  combined  with  cost  of 
the  land  telegraphing  at  either  end,  first  from  the  starting 
point  to  the  coast  cable  office,  and  at  the  other  end  from  the 
cable  office  to  the  inland  telegraph  office. 


DUTIES  OF  A  PRIVATE  SECRETARY  113 

Cipher  is  simply  a  secret  code,  habitually  used  by  govern- 
ments in  diplomatic  messages.  Looking  up  each  word  in  the 
code  book  and  writing  out  the  message  in  plain  language  is 
often  the  duty  of  a  secretary.  It  is  much  like  translating  from 
a  foreign  language,  and  considerable  judgment  is  required,  as 
the  code  phrases  are  often  only  approximately  what  is  intended 
to  be  said,  and  little  changes  suggested  by  common  sense 
may  be  written  below  the  literal  translation  by  the  secretary, 
to  help  the  manager  get  the  real  meaning  more  quickly.  All 
such  changes  should  be  written  in  a  separate  line  below,  so  the 
superior  can  judge  whether  the  change  is  judicious  or  not. 

Special  Duties  of  the  Social  Secretary 

Persons  of  wealth  often  employ  so-called  social  secretaries, 
who  usually  should  be  college  graduates  and  accustomed  to 
polite  society.  Good  manners  are  an  indispensable  requisite 
of  the  social  secretary,  and  any  one  not  possessed  of  them 
should  not  aspire  to  such  work. 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  the  social  secretary  is  to  keep  a 
record  of  appointments,  and  faithfully  remind  the  employer 
(whether  man  or  woman)  that  these  appointments  should  not 
be  neglected.  They  may  be  kept  on  a  calendar  pad  on  the 
study  desk,  the  hour  of  appointment  and  its  nature  being  jotted 
down  days  ahead  if  necessary.  Or  they  may  be  kept  in  a  little 
pocket  appointment  book  which  has  half  a  dozen  lines  under 
each  day  of  the  year.  The  calendar  pad  on  the  desk  will 
always  be  available  for  the  employer  or  secretary,  and  will  not 
be  likely  to  be  missing  when  wanted. 

Persons  like  Miss  Helen  Gould  maintain  a  staflf  of  secre- 
taries to  look  after  charities,  and  each  charity  should  have  its 
"social  ledger"  account.  The  personal  investigation  of  each 
charity  and  the  periodical  inspection  of  its  progress  is  a  spe- 
cial duty  of  the  social  secretary. 

Another  special  duty  of  the  social  secretary  is  to  look  after 
household  accounts.  It  is  a  common  thing  for  persons  of 
wealth  to  indulge  in  raising  fancy  chickens,  which  they  ex- 


114  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

hibit  at  fairs  or  poultry  shows,  and  which  they  try  to  make 
profitable.  If  they  can  make  it  pay  as  well  as  gain  distinction 
in  exhibits,  the  game  is  regarded  as  successful.  It  is  largely 
a  form  of  sport.  The  social  secretary  is  expected  to  keep  the 
books  and  find  out  whether  or  not  it  does  pay. 

The  best  methods  of  keeping  such  accounts  are  described 
under  the  head  of  ''Household  Bookkeeping"  in  the  chapter 
on  "Business  Papers." 

How  much  it  costs  to  maintain  an  automobile,  or  a  country 
house,  or  the  like,  is  information  the  social  secretary  should 
understand  how  to  get. 

Paying  Taxes 

The  social  secretary  should  always  look  after  the  taxes,  on 
which  there  may  be  fines  or  losses  if  they  are  not  paid  at  a 
certain  time. 

Personal  taxes  are  levied  upon  money  in  the  bank,  furni- 
niture,  clothing,  etc.,  and  usually  a  "personal  property  sched- 
ule" is  given  out  by  the  tax  assessors  during  the  months  of 
March,  April,  or  May.  This  blank  form  should  be  obtained 
at  this  season  and  a  list  of  taxable  property  sworn  to  and  filed 
with  the  assessors. 

If  the  assessors  place  the  taxable  property  too  high,  the 
matter  may  be  taken  before  the  board  of  review,  which  meets 
usually  during  the  summer  immediately  after  the  assessors 
have  finished  their  work.  The  social  secretary  ought  to  go  to 
the  office  of  the  assessors  and  find  out  what  assessment  has 
been  made,  so  that  an  appeal  can  be  taken  to  the  board  of 
review  before  it  is  too  late.  After  the  board  of  review  has 
finished  its  work  the  assessment  cannot  be  changed.  To  think 
of  these  things  and  look  after  them  at  the  proper  time  is  the 
important  matter. 

Real  estate  is  assessed  somewhat  differently.  Usually  the 
same  assessment  continues  for  four  years,  and  no  change  is 
made  between  times. 

Taxes  assessed  this  spring  will  be  payable  next  year  some 


DUTIES  OF  A  PRIVATE  SECRETARY  115 

time  after  January  1.  Usually  the  payment  must  be  made  in 
March,  April,  or  May,  or  fines  will  begin  to  accrue.  Then 
some  time  during  the  summer  the  property  will  be  sold  for 
taxes  at  public  auction,  if  the  tax  has  not  previously  been  paid. 
After  property  has  been  sold  for  taxes  it  is  necessary  to  find 
the  person  who  bought  the  taxes  and  arrange  to  redeem  the 
property  by  paying  the  taxes  with  fines  and  an  added  percent- 
age, which  is  profit  to  the  person  buying.  This  is  fixed  by 
law,  and  the  secretary  should  find  out  from  the  county  clerk 
just  what  it  is. 

What  taxes  are  due  and  when  they  must  be  paid  can  be 
found  out  by  writing  to  the  county  treasurer. 

Collecting  Rents 

When  houses  or  flats  are  owned,  it  sometimes  happens 
that  the  secretary  is  expected  to  collect  the  rents  instead  of 
paying  a  broker  or  agent  to  do  it. 

The  important  thing  in  collecting  rents  is  to  make  the  de- 
mand promptly  when  the  rents  are  due.  If  the  tenants  are 
poor  it  is  usually  necessary  to  call  on  them  on  the  first  day 
of  the  month.  If  they  are  of  a  better  class,  it  is  usual  to  send 
to  each  a  bill  for  the  rent  that  will  be  received  on  the  first  day 
of  the  month.  Rents  are  usually  payable  in  advance.  If  this 
bill  is  not  paid  by  the  tenth  of  the  month,  a  telephone  inquiry 
may  be  made.  If  it  is  not  paid  by  the  fifteenth  or  twentieth, 
a  call  will  usually  be  in  order.  A  printed  form  of  receipt 
should  always  be  ready  and  a  written  receipt  given  when  the 
rent  is  paid.  A  book  of  receipt  forms  can  always  be  bought 
for  a  few  cents. 

Property  is  usually  rented  on  lease.  Leases  may  be  by 
the  month  or  by  the  year.  Most  leases  by  the  year  start  on 
May  1.  and  should  Le  renewed  at  least  two  months  before  that 
date.  On  March  1  the  secretary  should  call  on  the  tenant  to 
get  the  lease  renewed,  so  that  if  the  tenant  is  not  to  continue, 
advertisements  may  at  once  be  inserted  in  an  eflFort  to  find  new 


116  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

tenants.  Neglect  to  attend  to  these  things  promptly  often  re- 
sults in  vacancies  and  loss.  Usually  there  is  a  clause  in  the 
lease  stating  that  the  tenant  has  an  option  to  renew  the  lease 
on  or  before  a  fixed  date,  so  that  he  understands  that  he  must 
give  a  definite  answer  on  that  date  and  not  wait  until  his  term 
of  lease  has  expired.  Some  tenants  think  they  need  not  de- 
cide about  continuing  until  the  last  day  of  April. 

When  tenants  do  not  pay  they  should  be  followed  up  per- 
sistently with  the  help  of  a  lawyer  if  necessary,  who  will  ad- 
vise what  steps  are  to  be  taken. 

Collecting  Dividends  and  Interest  on  Bonds 
When  stocks  are  held,  the  dividends,  if  any,  will  be  payable 
on  certain  fixed  dates,  once,  twice,  or  four  times  a  year.  The 
secretary  should  examine  stock  certificates  and  find  out  when 
dividends  are  regularly  due,  and  ascertain  whether  they  have 
been  paid  or  not.  There  is  also  an  annual  stockholders'  meet- 
ing at  which  the  holder  of  the  stock  may  wish  to  be  repre- 
sented. He  can  give  the  secretary  his  proxy  to  attend  the 
meeting  and  vote  his  stock. 

Bonds  are  of  two  kinds.  Coupon  bonds  have  little  in- 
terest coupons  attached  which  are  to  be  cut  off  and  presented 
through  any  bank  for  payment  when  they  become  due. 
The  secretary  should  watch  these  coupons  and  see  that  they 
are  sent  in  at  the  proper  time.  Other  bonds  are  registered 
bonds,  and  the  interest  may  have  to  be  collected  at  a  certain 
place  on  a  certain  date.  Mortgages  also  may  have  special 
interest  notes  which  should  be  presented  for  payment  at  the 
time  they  become  due,  or  of  which  notice  should  be  sent  in 
writing.  Other  mortgages  have  no  special  interest  notes,  and 
a  demand  should  be  made  for  the  interest  at  the  proper  time. 
It  is  usually  best  to  give  notice  in  advance  a  week  or  two, 
that  the  person  who  is  to  pay  may  be  reminded  that  the  pay- 
ment will  become  due,  and  he  may  be  prepared  to  meet  it  at 
the  proper  time.  Promptness  in  sending  these  reminders  has 
a  great  deal  to  do  with  success  in  making  the  collections. 


DUTIES  OF  A  PRIVATE  SECRETARY  117 


Looking  After  Insurance 

Houses  or  other  buildings  and  personal  property  should 
always  be  carefully  protected  by  fire  insurance,  and  the  secre- 
tary should  examine  the  policies,  see  when  they  expire,  and 
provide  for  their  renewal.  Usually  it  is  best  to  employ  an 
insurance  broker,  who  makes  it  a  business  to  watch  expira- 
tions and  attend  to  their  renewals,  but  the  secretary  should 
check  the  matter  up  also.  Usually  it  costs  less  to  take  up 
policies  for  three  years  or  five  years  than  for  one  year.  At 
some  time  during  leisure  the  secretary  should  look  over  the 
policies  and  see  just  when  they  expire  so  as  to  have  in  mind 
the  dates  of  expiration. 

Life  insurance  policies  are  also  important.  Usually  the 
premiums  are  paid  yearly,  and  if  not  paid  on  the  exact  date 
when  due  cause  the  policy  to  lapse.  While  notices  of  prem- 
iums due  are  usually  sent  in  advance  through  the  mail,  the 
secretary  should  inform  himself  about  such  policies,  so  as  to 
look  them  up  if  for  any  reason  the  notice  sent  through  the 
mail  fails  to  reach  his  employer  through  absence,  moving  resi- 
dence, or  the  like. 

The  good  secretary  will  go  over  all  these  things  during 
leisure  moments  so  as  to  get  them  well  in  hand  and  not  allow 
any  point  to  slip  by  unnoticed.  The  chief  duty  of  the  social 
secretary  is  to  remember  all  these  little  items  and  see  that 
they  are  attended  to  whether  his  principal  remembers  them 
or  not. 

Write  Everything  Down 

Everything  to  be  called  to  the  attention  of  an  employer 
should  be  placed  before  him  in  writing.  To  pour  into  his  ear 
a  long  story  when  his  head  is  already  filled  is  a  sheer  waste. 
If  a  personal  explanation  must  be  made,  first  write  briefly 
what  you  have  to  say,  and  then  explain  with  the  written 
memorandum  in  your  hand  to  be  left. 


118  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

Reference  Books 

It  is  very  often  the  duty  of  a  secretary  to  get  exact  infor- 
mation from  a  reference  book  and  place  it  before  the  superior 
in  compact  and  usable  form. 

The  reference  books  most  often  used  in  an  office  are  the  fol- 
lowing : 

City  Directory. 

Telephone  Directory. 

Dictionary. 

Encyclopedia. 

Atlas. 

Mercantile  Agency  books. 

Shipping  guides. 

City  Directory.  The  surnames  are  arranged  alphabetically, 
and  we  first  look  for  the  surname.  Then  the  given  names  are 
arranged  alphabetically  following  the  surnames,  and  we  follow 
down  the  list  to  the  given  name  we  wish.  A  small  "r"  usually 
indicates  the  residence  address  as  immediately  following,  but 
"res"  is  also  used.  Observe  that  usually  the  sign  &  is  counted 
as  the  last  letter  of  the  alphabet,  so  that  "Smith  &  Jones" 
would  usually  follow  all  the  individual  Smiths,  but  probabh' 
"Smith,  Jones  &  Co."  would  come  after  "Smith,  James." 
Methods  vary  a  little  in  different  directories. 

Business  directories  are  often  to  be  found  at  the  end  of  the 
main  part  of  the  city  directory.  Each  business  has  its  place  in 
alphabetical  order,  and  then  the  names  are  in  alphabetical 
order  following  the  general  title  of  the  business.  Under  what 
business  heading  a  given  business  man  or  firm  will  be  found 
may  be  a  matter  of  judgment.  Lawyers  may  be  classified  as 
"attorneys"  or  "lawyers,"  business  colleges  under  "business," 
under  "college,"  or  under  "schools."  Ingenuity  and  judgment 
must  be  used  in  order  to  find  what  is  wanted. 

Often  when  the  given  name  has  been  forgotten  and  there 
are  many  individuals  in  the  main  directory  with  the  same  sur- 
name, as  in  case  of  "Smith,"  for  example,  if  the  business  is 


DUTIES  OF  A  PRIVATE  SECRETARY  119 

known  the  correct  address  may  be  found  in  the  classified  sec- 
tion, as  there  will  be  only  one  or  two  Smiths  conducting  busi- 
ness colleges,  for  example,  so  the  number  to  choose  from  is 
narrowed  down  often  to  one  individual  of  that  surname. 

Telephone  directory.  The  telephone  directory  is  the  most 
accurate  and  up-to-date  directory  published,  as  it  is  corrected 
often  four  times  a  year,  and  a  new  edition  is  nearly  always 
issued  soon  after  moving  time  in  May.  As  only  the  larger  and 
better  firms  and  individuals  have  telephones,  it  is  a  selected 
list  and  easier  to  refer  to.  It  usually  has  a  classified  section 
as  well  as  a  general  section. 

Dictionary.  A  good  dictionary,  reliable  and  up  to  date, 
and  not  too  small,  such,  for  example,  as  Webster's  Collegiate 
Dictionary,  compiled  from  the  International,  or  the  Student's 
Standard,  compiled  from  the  Standard  Dictionary,  should  be 
found  in  every  business  office.  Cheap  dictionaries  and  very 
small  dictionaries  are  to  be  avoided. 

It  is  impossible  to  look  up  a  word  in  the  dictionary  intelli- 
gently unless  you  know  what  part  of  speech  it  is.  If  the  word 
is  used  as  a  verb,  you  look  in  the  dictionary  for  such  a  word 
with  a  small  v  after  it ;  or  if  it  is  a  noun,  a  small  n  after  it,  and 
so  on  with  the  other  parts  of  speech.  Unless  you  know  the 
parts  of  speech  you  cannot  look  up  words  in  the  dictionary 
satisfactorily. 

Then  when  you  find  the  word  you  really  want,  if  you  are 
looking  for  the  definition,  you  must  often  choose  between 
several.  The  first  meaning  is  usually  the  most  primitive,  and 
so  may  be  the  least  common.  Which  meaning  you  require 
you  can  judge  only  by  the  context.  So  when  you  are  asked 
to  look  up  a  word  in  the  dictionary  you  should  always  get  the 
sentence  in  which  it  is  used ;  otherwise  it  may  be  impossible  to 
find  what  is   really  wanted. 

Encyclopedia  or  Cyclopedia  (both  forms  of  this  word  are 
in  equally  good  use).  If  you  wish  an  explanation  of  subjects, 
persons,  or  places,  you  must  refer  to  a  good  cyclopedia,  one 


120  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

that  is  revised  up  to  a  recent  date.  You  look  first  on  the  backs 
of  the  vohimes  for  the  division  of  the  alphabet  in  which  the 
key  word  falls.  The  name  of  a  person  may  be  found  several 
times,  and  some  slight  knowledge  of  which  one  it  is  must  help 
decide  which  article  to  read.  The  same  applies  to  places.  The 
name  of  a  town  may  be  that  of  a  place  in  Kentucky,  Canada, 
or  Europe,  and  some  slight  knowledge  is  necessary  as  a  clue  to 
get  the  rest  of  the  information  desired. 

Looking  up  subjects  is  done  best  by  use  of  the  Index  vol- 
ume, a  separate  volume  of  many  cyclopedias  found  at  the  end 
of  the  set.  Here  will  be  found  the  general  subject,  and  then 
under  that  many  different  phases  or  divisions  of  the  subject, 
arranged  in  alphabetical  order.  The  subject  may  be  referred 
to  in  a  paragraph  or  two  in  half  a  dozen  different  articles,  each 
of  which  will  be  referred  to  by  the  volume  number  in  Roman 
figures,  followed  by  the  page  in  Arabic  numerals,  and  then 
often  the  place  on  the  page  as  the  beginning,  middle,  or  end, 
is  indicated  by  a  small  letter,  as  a,  b,  c,  or  d.  An  explanation 
of  the  system  used  may  be  found  at  the  beginning  of  the 
volume. 

Atlas.  Finding  a  town  oji  a  map  is  often  difficult  unless  a 
system  is  used.  Usually  a  table  of  contents  in  the  front  of 
the  atlas  will  give  the  page  on  which  the  particular  map  de- 
sired may  be  found.  Then  on  the  side  of  the  map,  or  some- 
times at  the  back  of  the  book  on  a  page  to  which  reference  is 
made,  a  list  of  counties  or  towns  will  be  found  either  in  alpha- 
betical order  or  in  order  of  population.  After  each  town  there 
is  likely  to  be  a  letter  and  also  a  number.  The  letters  will  per- 
haps indicate  latitude  lines  or  territory  between  latitude  lines 
on  the  sides  of  the  map,  and  the  figures  will  indicate  meridian 
lines  or  territory  between  meridian  lines  at  top  or  bottom  of 
the  map.  The  place  will  then  be  found  in  the  square  at  which 
these  two  meet.  Or  in  any  case  the  latitude  and  longitude 
may  be  found  in  a  cyclopedia  or  gazetteer,  and  these  lines  fol- 
lowed down  will  meet  at  a  certain  point  at  which  the  town  will 


DUTIES  OF  A  PRIVATE  SECRETARY  121 

be  found.  It  is  usually  much  quicker  to  follow  a  system  like 
this  than  to  hunt  all  over  a  map  at  random  for  half  an  hour  or 
so.  Note  that  a  reference  dictionary  of  places  is  called  a 
gazetteer. 

Mercantile  agency  books.  The  credit  rating  of  business 
firms  is  given  in  what  are  called  mercantile  agency  books.  The 
oldest  and  best  known  mercantile  agencies  are  those  of  Dun 
and  Bradstreet,  and  each  issues  two  or  four  times  a  year  an 
enormous  book  giving  the  credit  ratings.  These  books  are 
loaned  to  the  subscribers,  and  belong  to  the  agencies.  When 
the  new  book  is  issued  the  old  one  is  taken  back.  The  infor- 
mation contained  in  them  is  supposed  to  be  confidential.  If 
any  business  firm  is  not  a  subscriber,  the  desired  information 
may  be  obtained  by  going  to  the  bank  where  one's  deposits 
are  kept  and  asking  to  be  allowed  to  look  at  the  bank's  copy 
of  Dun  or  Bradstreet.  A  special  report  on  any  concern  or 
individual  may  also  be  obtained  from  the  agency,  either  by  a 
subscriber  direct,  or  through  the  bank,  on  payment  of  a  small 
fee,  usually  50  cents. 

Secretaries  should  understand  how  to  find  ratings,  and 
v/hat  they  mean  when  found,  as.  the  work  of  looking  up 
references  is  often  left  to  them. 

The  names  are  arranged  on  the  geographical  system.  First 
the  states  of  the  Union  are  given  in  alphabetical  order.  Under 
the  towns,  which  are  followed  by  the  counties,  will  be  found 
the  names  of  the  business  firms  in  alphabetical  order.  Three 
different  steps  must  be  taken  in  order  to  find  any  name. 

Opposite  each  name  will  usually  be  found  two  letters,  or  a 
number  or  figure  and  a  letter.  The  exact  system  used  will  be 
explained  in  the  front  of  the  book,  and  this  key  to  ratings 
should  be  carefully  studied  before  a  reference  is  looked  up. 

Two  different  facts  are  of  interest  in  regard  to  any  busi- 
ness firm  or  individual.  The  most  important  is  whether  he  is 
honest  and  pays  his  bills  promptly,  and  the  other  is  how  much 
money  he  is  worth,  or  for  how  much  it  is  safe  to  trust  him. 


122  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

WISCONSIN.  Dun's  Ratings 
Jerseyport,  Harding  Co.                  '  for  same. 

Chambers,  K.  W.,  blacksmith F  M 

Frederick,  Geo.  P.,  butcher Z  F  H  3 

Galloway,  Joseph  H.,  drugs Z  F  4 

Groome,  W.  F.,  G.  S U  C  G  3 

Hilyard,  W.  J.,  gro.  and  prov WD  H  3 

Gusta,  Curtis  G.  Co.,  coal,  Ibr.,  etc SC  F    3J/2 

Kiamensi  Pottery  Co.,  firebrick TC  4 

Krebs  Chemical  Co.,  mfg.  chem NA  C    1^^ 

Lowe,  J.  Harry,  G.  S Z  F  3 

Medford  Fertilizer  Co.  (Inc.)   (branch  of 

New  York  City) R  B 

Phillips,  John  W.,  shoemkr Z  F  J    3 

Inside  the  front  cover  will  be  found  the  key  to  ratings, 
which  in  condensed  form  is  as  follows,  for  Bradstreet : 

1  high     2  good     3  fair 

G— Over  $1,000,000 Aa 

N— From  $1 50,000  to  $200,000 A 

R— From  $35,000  to  $50,000 B 

S_From  $20,000  to  $35,000 C 

T— From  $10,000  to  $20,000 C 

U— From  $5,000  to  $10,000 C 

W— From  $2,000  to  $3,000 D 

Z— From  0  to  $500 E 

Fictitious  Extract  from  Bradstreet. 

The  letter  in  the  first  column  shows  the  wealth  in  dollars, 
and  the  letter  in  the  second  column  shows  the  general  credit 
rating  with  reference  to  honesty  and  general  mercantile  ability. 
No  man  with  less  than  $500  capital  should  be  given  much 
credit,  so  the  highest  letter  such  a  man  can  have  is  E  on  gen- 
eral credit,  while  F  means  second  rate.  Up  at  the  top,  a  man 
with  much  wealth  rated  C  would  be  considered  poor  pay, 
though  such  that  you  could  force  him  to  pay  by  going  to  law. 
To  get  a  man's  credit  you  must  see  what  is  the  highest  letter 
under  his  rating  for  wealth.  Thus  Z  F  means  a  man  has  less 
than  $500  in  wealth,  and  is  a  poor  payer  even  for  what  he  has — 
no  rating  at  all  could  be  worse. 


A 

B 

B 

C 

C 

D 

D 

E 

D 

E 

D 

E 

E 

F 

F 

PRINTING  123 

In  Dun's  system  a  letter  indicates  the  wealth,  Aa  being 
equivalent  to  "over  a  million,"  F  from  810,000  to  $20,000,  G 
from  $5,000  to  $10,000,  H  from  $3,000  to  $5,000  and  J  from 
$2,000  to  $3,000.  The  general  credit  rating  is  indicated  by 
numbers  in  four  columns  instead  of  three.  For  a  low  wealth 
rating  the  highest  credit  rating  would  be  2^/2.  When  no 
wealth  rating  is  indicated,  a  number  indicates  the  column, 
1  high,  2  good,  3  fair,  and  4  limited.  Where  only  4  appears 
after  a  name  the  rating  could  not  be  worse.  In  case  of  a 
branch,  it  is  necessary  to  look  up  the  home  office  to  get 
rating  from  Dun's  book. 

Shipping  guides.  The  express  companies  have  books  ar- 
ranged geographically  showing  the  rate  per  hundred  pounds  to 
every  express  office  in  the  country,  whether  on  their  own  lines 
or  those  of  another  company.  If  the  office  is  not  on  their  lines 
they  will  take  a  package  and  transfer  it  to  the  other  company 
that  does  have  an  office  there.  The  rate  for  weights  less  than 
a  hundred  pounds  may  be  found  in  a  table  at  the  front  or  back 
of  the  book,  where  the  rate  per  hundred  pounds  is  first  found, 
and  then  down  the  column  the  rate  for  any  fixed  weight  less 
than  a  hundred. 

There  are  similar  books  for  freight  shipments,  privately 
published,  showing  the  different  routes  over  which  a  freight 
package  may  be  sent,  and  diflferent  classifications,  as  the  rates 
on  small,  heavy  articles  like  iron,  and  large,  light  bodies  like 
trunks  would  be  very  different.  This  subject  is  so  compli- 
cated that  it  is  usually  left  to  an  expert  shipping  clerk. 

CHAPTER    X 

Printing 

It  is  frequently  the  duty  of  private  secretaries  to  order 
office  stationery  and  printing,  and  supervise  the  printing  of 
letterheads,  circulars,  and  booklets,  preparing  dummies  and 
reading  proof.     Occasionally  there  is  need  to  prepare  display 


124  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

advertisements.  Some  familiarity  with  the  terms  of  printing, 
and  the  details  of  paper,  etc.,  is  desirable. 

Printing.  The  invention  of  printing  has  made  modern  life 
what  it  is,  and  the  terms  and  methods  used  are  much  the  same 
the  world  over.  The  general  subject  divides  itself  into  three 
divisions,  (1)  composition,  or  typesetting,  (2)  paper  and  press- 
work,  or  printing  the  type  on  paper  by  means  of  a  printing 
press,  and  (3)  binding,  or  folding,  sewing  or  stitching,  and 
casing  up  or  covering,  so  as  to  make  a  bound  book  or  pamphlet. 

Composition.  Ordinary  type  is  set  by  hand,  and  has  a 
metal  body.  Very  large  type  for  posters,  cards,  etc.,  some- 
times has  a  wood  body.  The  linotype  machine  sets  by  the 
touch  of  keys  (like  typewriter  keys)  what  are  called  matrixes, 
and  casts  an  entire  line  of  type,  all  on  one  solid  body.  The 
monotype  machine  casts  lines  made  up  of  individual  types  such 
as  are  usually  bought  at  the  foundries  and  set  by  hand. 

The  sizes  of  type  are  now  usually  measured  by  what  is 
called  the  point  system,  12  points  to  the  inch.  Type  a  sixth  of 
an  inch  high  would  be  eight  point,  a  twelfth  of  an  inch  high, 
six  point,  etc.  The  letter  m  is  square,  as  broad  as  it  is  high, 
and  the  letter  n  is  half  as  broad  as  it  is  high.  These  sizes 
without  letters  on  them  are  used  as  spaces,  and  are  called  m 
quads  and  n  quads. 

Strips  of  metal  between  lines  are  called  leads,  and  are  most 
commonly  two  points  thick.  Leaded  eight-point  is  therefore 
as  high  from  bottom  of  line  to  bottom  of  line  as  solid  ten-point. 

The  commonest  sizes  of  type  are  the  following: 

Agate,  or  5^  pt.,  commonly  used  in  newspaper  classified 
advertising,  and  accepted  as  the  standard  size  for  measuring 
all  advertising,  a  line  of  advertising  being  figured  as  an 
agate  line; 

Nonpareil,  or  6  pt.,  the  common  body  face  of  newspaper 
reading  matter;  newspapers  also  use  7  pt. ; 

Brevier,  or  8  pt.,  the  common  magazine  body  face ; 

Long  primer,  or  10  pt.,  the  common  book  face; 


PRINTING  125 

Pica,  or  12  pt.,  the  largest  common  face  for  book  type,  and 
used  as  a  standard  measure  of  width  of  columns  and  pages, 
there  being  six  picas  to  the  inch,  so  that  a  newspaper  column 
two  inches  wide  would  be  said  to  be  12  picas  wide,  and  a  book 
page  three  and  a  half  inches  wide  would  be  said  to  be  twenty- 
one  picas  wide. 

The  common  advertising  display  or  black-faced  types  are 
18-point,  24-point,  36-point,  48-point,  and  72-point,  which  are 
respectively  three-twelfths-  of  an  inch,  one-third  of  an  inch, 
half  an  inch,  two-thirds  of  an  inch,  and  an  inch  high.  Names 
are  not  in  common  use  for  these  larger  sizes,  though  persisting 
in  connection  with  the  smaller  sizes. 

Body  type  includes  the  smaller  sizes  used  in  the  body  of 
books  or  articles,  and  is  usually  light-faced.  There  are  two 
different  varieties,  old  style  (a  technical  term  in  no  sense  mean- 
ing old-fashioned),  which  has  the  terminations  of  the  risers  (or 
vertical  portions  of  letters  above  the  main  body)  sloping,  and 
modern  face,  which  has  the  terminations  of  the  risers  hori- 
zontal and  square.  The  latter  is  considered  plainer  and  a  little 
easier  to  read,  the  former  more  artistic  in  book  work.  This 
type  is  old  style,  and  the  8-point  in  some  of  the  appendixes 
is  modern. 

Display  type,  bold  face,  or  black  face  is  used  for  titles  and 
headings,  or  for  emphasis,  and  prints  a  bright  black. 

Electrotypes  are  plates  made  from  type,  that  may  be  printed 
just  the  same  as  the  original  type.  They  are  used  when  the 
same  type  or  engravings  may  be  printed  several  times,  as  they 
are  more  convenient  to  keep  for  permanent  use  or  possible  use. 
The  type  is  impressed  on  wax  and  then  dusted  with  black  lead. 
This  mould  is  placed  in  a  bath  where  an  electric  current  de- 
posits a  thin  shell  of  copper  all  over  the  face.  This  shell  is 
then  backed  up  with  hot  metal  to  make  the  plate  about  a  pica 
thick.  This  plate  is  mounted  on  wood,  mounted  on  metal,  or  is 
beveled  to  clamp  on  patent  blocks  or  patent  base.  Patent- 
block  plates  are  used  when  there  are  many  of  them,  as  for  a 


126  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

book  which  is  to  be  printed  more  than  once,  each  print  being 
called  an  edition.  Electrotypes  are  measured  and  charged  for 
by  the  square  inch,  or  according  to  a  standard  scale  used  by  all 
electrotypers.  Stereotypes  are  plates  made  from  a  mould  of 
paper  pulp  by  running  melted  metal  into  a  metal  box  contain- 
ing the  mould.  It  is  a  cheap  plate  used  chiefly  in  newspaper 
work. 

Cuts  are  engravings  of  any  kind,  of  which  there  are  two 
varieties  in  commercial  use,  zinc .  etchings  from  pen-and-ink 
drawings  or  any  solid  masses  of  black  and  white  color,  as  for 
example,  reproduction  of  printing  or  typewriting,  and  half- 
tones, giving  the  effect  of  a  photograph  with  intermediate  tones 
(produced  by  photographing  on  a  copper  plate  tlirough  a 
screen  like  mosquito  netting).  The  fineness  or  coars,eness  of 
the  "screen"  determines  the  kind  of  paper  on  which  a  clear  im- 
pression can  be  printed.  For  newspaper  work  a  screen  with 
80  to  100  lines  to  the  inch  (called  an  80-  or  100-line  screen) 
makes  a  coarse  picture;  for  smooth  or  calendered  book  paper 
cuts  made  with  120-  or  130-line  screens  may  be  used,  and  on 
enameled  papers  cuts  up  to  200-line  screens  may  be  used. 

Papers.  Letterheads  are  printed  on  special  calendared 
papers  called  writing  papers,  which  will  take  ink  without 
blurring.  They  come  usually  in  sheets  17x22  inches,  called 
folio  size,  which,  cut  into  quarters,  make  standard  letterheads 
8^x11  inches.  Flat  stock  is  a  special  class  of  writing  paper 
of  common  or  cheaper  quality,  while  bond  is  another  special 
quality  of  paper  widely  used  for  a  better  class  of  letterheads. 
Bond  paper  is  more  or  less  transparent,  and  is  adapted  to 
printing  or  writing  only  on  one  side. 

Book  papers  are  used  for  all  kinds  of  circulars  and  small 
type  printing,  and  are  in  general  of  four  qualities  or  charac- 
ters,— print,  the  cheapest  wood  pulp  paper,  used  for  news- 
papers; machine  finish,  made  partly  of  rags,  well  adapted  to 
printing  ordinary  type  and  zinc-etching  cuts,  but  not  adapted 
to  half-tones ;  supercalendared,  or  S.  &  S  C,  a  medium  smooth 


PRINTING  127 

sheet  on  which  half-tones  may  be  used,  and  enamel,  or  coated 
stock,  the  surface  of  which  is  filled  with  a  preparation  of  clay, 
on  which  the  finest  half-tones  may  be  printed  with  beautiful 
results.  The  commonest  sizes  of  book  papers  are  24x36  or 
25x38  inches  (a  standard  size),  28x42  inches,  32x44  inches,  and 
the  double  of  the  first  size  or  38x50  inches.  Each  has  three  to 
six  different  thicknesses,  indicated  by  the  weight  or  pounds  to 
the  ream.    We  count  500  sheets  to  a  ream. 

Bristol  board  is  a  thick  paper  used  for  cards,  etc.,  and  sold 
by  the  100  sheets,  most  commonly  22j^x28j/  inches.  Other 
varieties  of  thick  colored  papers  are  called  cover  papers  and 
are  used  for  covers  on  booklets,  usually  made  same  size  as 
bristol  or  20x25  inches. 

Binding.  When  books  are  supplied  with  elaborate,  stiflf 
covers  the  work  is  called  hard  binding,  the  stiff  cover  is  called 
a  case  or  a  cloth  case,  and  the  work  is  done  at  a  special  bindery. 
Most  printers  do  pamphlet  work,  or  binding  of  small  booklets 
in  paper  covers.  The  larger  and  finer  books  are  sewed  (i.  e., 
with  thread),  while  the  small  booklets  and  less  expensive  books 
are  wire-stitched  (that  is,  sewed  with  wire).  When  books  are 
finished  they  are  trimmed  or  cut  on  the  edges,  a  number  of 
books  at  a  time,  to  a  certain  size,  which  must  be  given  the 
binder  in  inches.  He  will  ask  for  the  trimmed  size.  An  eighth 
or  quarter  of  an  inch  extra  must  be  left  for  "trim." 

Layout  means  a  rough  sketch  showing  how  the  printing  is 
to  be  arranged,  with  the  sizes  of  each  part,  etc.  For  layout 
of  a  full-page  advertisement  of  Marshall  Field  &  Co.,  see  Fig. 
56,  and  for  the  advertisement  see  Fig.  57.  The  drawn  lines  in- 
dicate the  margins  of  the  different  bodies  of  type,  the  dimen- 
sions being  indicated  in  inches.  Solid  pencil  lines  indicate 
where  the  pictures  or  cuts  will  go.  A  wavy  line  under  the 
headings  in  the  copy  will  indicate  black  letter  or  display  type. 
The  size  of  the  type  desired  should  be  marked  at  the  side  of 
each  display  line  or  body  of  type. 

A  dummy  is  a  little  book  made  of  blank  paper  showing  the 


128 


BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 


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Fig.    56. 


PRINTING 


129 


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Women's  Coats  and  Capes  Showing  the  Sea-    Tailored  Two  and  Three  Piece  Suits :  The 
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Untrimmed  Hats  in  Many  of  the  Season's  Latest 
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^i^£Zr^:^Ji:'jr\;^iJr£  t^TIS;        ^^  ^^^^  Implemeata. 


Fig.    57.     Full   Newspaper  Page   Reduced. 


130  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  LT  TO  DATE 

size,  and  if  possible  the  kind  of  paper  for  the  main  part  or 
body  and  the  kind  of  paper  for  the  cover.  Outlines  may  be 
drawn  with  a  pencil  to  show  the  outside  edges  of  the  type  and 
the  margins  or  blank  paper  around  the  type.  The  bottom  and 
outside  margins  should  always  be  greater  than  the  inside  and 
top  margins.  On  each  page  of  the  dummy  may  be  written  a 
brief  description  of  what  is  to  go  on  that  page. 

Principles  of  typesetting  or  composition.  Only  two  differ- 
ent faces  or  kinds  of  type  should  ordinarily  be  used  in  a  book- 
let or  advertisement,  one  kind  of  black  letter  in  different  sizes 
for  the  display  lines,  and  one  light-faced  body  type  in  different 
sizes  if  necessary  for  the  reading  matter.  An  advertisement 
with  many  different  kinds  of  black  type  is  an  atrocity — it  is 
"bad  composition."  Many  ornaments  and  a  confused  appear- 
ance are  also  bad.  The  display  lines  should  be  short  and  in- 
stantly read.  If  possible,  avoid  ''condensed"  type — type  that 
is  tall  and  thin,  made  purposely  to  crowd  more  into  a  display 
line.  "Fat"  or  round  type  is  more  easily  read  and  always  to  be 
preferred.  There  should  be  plenty  of  blank  space  above  and 
below  display  lines,  and  in  the  surrounding  margins,  yet  not  a 
wasteful  amount — just  enough  to  make  everything  clear  and 
sensible-looking. 

Measuring  advertisements.  It  often  falls  to  the  lot  of  a 
secretary  to  measure  up  advertising  to  see  that  it  is  as  charged 
for.  The  entire  space  filled  is  measured  as  if  it  were  set  solid  in 
agate  lines,  including  all  picture  space  and  borders.  There  are 
fourteen  agate  lines  to  the  inch,  four  inches  to  a  quarter  maga- 
zine page.  A  newspaper  advertisement  across  two  columns 
is  called  "double-column"  and  a  double-width  line  is  measured 
as  two  lines.  When  advertisements  are  set  by  printers  they 
are  measured  by  the  thousand  ems.  Take  the  total  number  of 
lines  from  top  to  bottom,  and  also  find  the  number  of  line 
spaces  or  ems  from  side  to  side.  Multiply  these  together,  tak- 
ing the  next  highest  thousands  as  the  amount  of  the  composi- 
tion, written  as  so  many  "M."  Pictures  are  counted  as  type 
unless  they  fill  full  pages. 


PRINTING  131 

Measuring  printing.  The  typesetting  is  measured  by  the 
thousand  ems  of  the  size  of  type  actually  used  (not  as  agate 
except  in  the  case  of  advertisements  in  many  different  sizes  of 
type),  by  use  of  a  type  rule  marked  oft  for  each  different  size 
of  type  up  to  12-pt.  Display  heads  are  counted  as  if  set  solid 
with  the  body  type. 

Presswork  refers  to  the  impressions  on  the  printing  press, 
and  is  counted  as  so  many  thousand  impressions  of  each  form. 
A  form  is  a  number  of  pages  locked  up  together  in  one  chase  or 
iron  frame.  Forms  usually  have  eight,  sixteen,  or  thirty-two 
pages,  and  each  group  of  pages  of  that  number  (whatever 
number  can  be  run  on  the  press  at  one  time)  is  called  a 
"form."  A  book  of  196  pages  would  have  six  forms  of  thirty- 
two  pages  each,  and  one  thousand  complete  books  would  be 
counted  as  "6  M  impressions"  (six  thousand  impressions). 
There  is  an  extra  charge  on  the  first  thousand  impressions  of 
each  form  to  cover  "lock-up"  (locking  the  pages  up  in  the 
chase  with  the  right  margins)  and  the  "make-ready,"  that  is 
getting  the  type  to  print  clear  and  sharp  all  over  by  means  of 
paper  "overlays"  and  "underlays"  on  the  cylinder  of  the  press. 
Gordon  presses  are  very  small  presses  for  cards,  letterheads, 
etc.,  and  usually  take  any  printing  not  over  10x12  inches. 
Larger  sheets  are  printed  on  "cylinder  presses."  "Gordon" 
press  jobs  cost  about  half  as  much  for  the  presswork  as  "cyl- 
inder" press  jobs. 

There  is  also  a  charge  for  cutting  or  trimming  the  paper 
on  the  paper-cutter,  and  of  course  a  charge  for  printing  the 
cover  and  for  folding  and  binding.  In  laying  out  the  form 
allow  one-eighth  to  one-quarter  of  an  inch  extra  paper  for 
the  "trim." 

Preparing  Copy  for  Printer  and  Reading  Proof 

Copy  for  the  printer  should  be  written  only  on  one  side  of 
the  paper.  As  a  rule  it  should  be  typewritten,  but  clear  hand- 
writing is  not  objectionable. 

Words  or  phrases  intended  to  be  set  in  italics  should  be 


132  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

underscored  once,  in  small  capitals  twice,  and  in  full  capitals 
three  times,  while  a  wavy  line  below  indicates  black  letter. 

If  the  paragraphs  are  not  distinct  they  should  be  marked 
by  the  sign  of  the  paragraph  (Tj),  and  this  sign  in  the  middle  of 
any  solid  writing  will  cause  the  printer  to  make  a  paragraph 
at  that  point  without  other  direction.  If  a  paragraph  is  not 
wanted  where  the  writing  has  been  indented  for  a  paragraph, 
draw  a  line  to  connect  the  last  word  of  the  preceding  with  the 
first  word  of  the  next,  and  at  the  left  write  "No  T[."  If  a 
period  is  not  distinct,  draw  a  circle  around  it — a  small  circle 
not  over  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 

See  that  the  spelling,  punctuation,  and  capitalization  are 
exactly  right.  It  costs  a  good  deal  of  money  to  change  these 
things  on  the  proof.  It  is  much  cheaper  to  edit  the  manuscript 
in  advance. 

On  the  corner  of  the  manuscript,  top  of  first  page,  indi- 
cate the  size  of  type  in  which  it  is  to  be  set,  as  "8-pt.,"  "10-pt.," 
etc.,  and  whether  "leaded"  or  "solid."  If  possible  mark  at  the 
ends  of  the  heading  lines  the  style  or  size  of  type  in  which  the 
headings  are  to  be  set.    Also  mark  the  width  in  inches  or  picas. 

Observe  that  words  in  capital  letters  are  harder  to  read  than 
when  set  in  capitals  and  small  letters,  or  "upper  and  lower 
case."  If  headings  are  marked  "u.  and  1.  c."  they  will  be  set 
in  upper  and  lower  case,  even  if  written  on  the  typewriter  in 
capitals.  Words  to  go  in  all  capitals  can  be  circled  and 
marked  "caps."  or  underscored  with  three  lines. 

A  blank  paper  dummy,  folded  up  and  cut  in  the  size,  with 
writing  to  indicate  the  length  of  the  pages,  as  well  as  the 
width,  places  for  the  pictures,  etc.,  kind  of  paper  to  be  used 
for  body  and  cover,  will  also  be  a  good  addition. 

The  first  proof  comes  back  in  long  strips,  called  "galley 
proof."  When  the  corrections  made  on  this  proof  have  been 
inserted  a  better  and  clearer  proof  usually  is  supplied,  called 
"page  proof"  (if  the  matter  is  to  be  made  up  into  pages).  If 
this  is  correct,  each  page  should  be  marked  in  the  lower  left- 


PRINTING  133 

hand  corner  **0.  K."  with  the  name  of  the  person  signing,  or 
initials. 

Printers  use  certain  abbreviations,  signs,  and  symbols  in 
marking  proof  with  which  the  ordinary  person  should  be 
familiar.    The  chief  are  the  following: 

caps.,  capital  letters,  also  indicated  by  three  lines  below. 

u.  c,  upper  case,  capital  letters. 

1.  c,  lower  case,  small  letters. 

u.  and  1.  c,  upper  and  lower  case,  the  first  letter  capitals 
and  the  rest  small  letters. 

sm.  caps,  or  s.  c,  small  capitals,  or  two  lines  below. 

ital.  (not  beginning  with  capital),  italic,  or  underscored 
once. 

rom.  (not  w^ritten  with  capital),  roman,  the  ordinary 
straight  letters,  as  opposed  to  italic. 

w.  f.,  wrong  font  (a  face  or  cut  of  type  not  like  the  rest). 

stet.,  Latin  for  "let  it  stand."  Words  to  remain  are  under- 
scored with  a  dotted  line. 

A  line  draw^n  through  a  capital  letter  indicates  it  is  to  be 
made  small. 

tr.,  transpose,  or  change  the  order. 

ej(dele),  take  out,  placed  in  the  margin  when  a  letter  or 
word  is  to  be  removed. 

C^,  turn  the  letter  the  other  side  up,  placed  in  the  margin 
when  a  letter  is  upside  down. 

A  sloping  line  is  placed  to  the  left  of  any  letter,  word,  or 
mark  that  is  to  go  into  the  text,  but  a  mere  symbol  or  direction 
should  not  have  any  line  beside  it. 

The  period,  however,  has  a  circle  about  it,  while  apos- 
trophes, quotation  marks,  and  superior  figures  that  are  to 
appear  at  the  upper  edge  of  the  line  of  type  are  written  in  the 
top  of  an  angle  (V)  or  V.  Inferior  figures  or  signs  specially  in- 
dicated as  going  below  the  line  of  type  are  placed  in  an  in- 
verted A- 

^  means  insert  more  space. 
I    I  em  quad,  the  space  of  a  square  of  the  type  used. 


134  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

-/   means  somewhat  less  space  between  words. 
""^  means  close  up  space. 
X  a  cross  means  a  broken  letter. 

oJ     \Vnamaker,  Carson,  Field  &  Co?)  (W^^      Q 
/  Wholesale  Department ^b><^L_L^5^^^^ 

C\         We  must  go  aft/r  the  firemen   .  1/    | 
JLqSL  ?n  masse. Awhat  the  advertising  (      '  / 
men  call  ^ass  ^lay.    Read  the     "  }Tt 
/     bookletigOWTO  WRITE  AD-  U- 


VERTISING  LETTERS,  page    V^ 
23,  section  on  mass  play.  Tw 

Please   prepare    a    series    of  5 
three    letter,  and    the    printed 
matter  to  go  with  them? 

This  will  consit 
booklet  with  cover  to  go  with 
first  the  letter,  letter  sheet 
testimonials,  one  or  two  good 


inemr c_x/ 

of   an  a-^  ^/c.kMi^/ 
to  go  with^-^  ^     I     U  / 
2r  sheet  of  '         ' 


^^nesysto  go  with  secoijdjetten,  <., C  .  ^  / 
/and  a  picture  showing  our  offer  q  / 

/  at  a  glance  to  go  with  the  final^.  </    ^^       .  ^^  /  ^  ^ 
I       Feature  the  word  a/then^m  a   ^  ^\o^l  \/ 
printed  with^^othong.  x-n'^/       / 

This  under^^ear  at  $2  for  a   ^^ 
unionsuit  is  positively  the  best  4- 
value   obtainable*   as   the    gar- 
ment is  actually  more  than  h^lf     j 
silk.    Make  a  strong  appeal  on  D 

this, /and  let  us  se^if  we  cannot   J^.*  ]h  ' 
I         getja  start  with  these  people  on  c>S 
—        on  somethnig*  better  than  th^y     lA/  + 
have  been  using. 

Brackets  at  left  or  right,  top  or  bottom,  mean  "move  the 
type  up  to  the  line  of  the  main  line  of  the  bracket." 

Hyphens  and  dashes  are  placed  between  two  sloping  lines. 


GETTING  A  JOB  AND  KEEPING  IT  135 

The  length  of  a  dash  may  be  indicated  by  writing  under  it  the 
letter  m  (meaning  a  dash  the  length  of  a  square  of  the  type), 
or  2m  or  3em  (the  latter  being  the  more  correct  way  of  writ- 
ing the  letter). 

A  a  caret  indicates  where  something  left  out  is  to  be  in- 
serted. 

j_  means  to  push  down  a  quad  or  space  that  shows  in 
the  type. 

"Out,  see  copy,"  indicates  an  omission  too  great  to  write  in, 
reference  being  made  to  the  original  copy  where  the  omitted 
words  are  bracketed. 

^^  a  curved  line  over  two  letters  indicates  that  they  are  to 
be  printed  as  a  dipthong  or  single  character. 

Straight  lines  at  the  side  usually  indicate  that  type  should 
be  straightened  up.  or  the  margin  straightened. 

Qy  or  ?  written  by  the  proofreader  indicates  that  there  may 
be  an  error  and  the  author  should  verify. 


CHAPTER   XI 
Getting  a  Job  and  Keeping  It 

"Applying  for  a  Position"  is  the  theoretical,  precise,  and 
proper  subject  that  is  studied  about  in  school,  and  "Getting  a 
Job  and  Keeping  It"  is  the  practical  side  of  the  matter.  There 
is  often  rather  a  wide  difference. 

The  first  step  toward  getting  a  job  and  keeping  it  is  to  be 
able  to  do  at  least  some  little  thing  better  than  anyone  else. 
When  there  is  only  one  applicant  for  a  position  there  isn't 
much  trouble  in  getting  the  appointment.  When  there  are  a 
hundred  applicants,  even  those  well  qualified  may  never  so 
much  as  get  a  chance  to  tell  what  they  can  do.  Therefore 
think  ahead,  fix  your  mind  on  putting  yourself  in  a  class  by 
yourself.  For  example,  there  are  very  few  private  secre- 
taries who  know  anything  about  many  of  the  subjects  taught 


136  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

in  this  book.  Any  person  familiar  with  these  duties  would 
have  a  dozen  positions  open  instead  of  being  one  of  a  dozen 
to  apply  for  a  single  position.  Even  specialization  on  almost 
any  one  of  the  subjects  taught  in  this  book  would  place  an 
applicant  for  some  positions  ahead  of  all  others.  The  only 
thing  is  that  you  must  look  about  a  year  ahead  and  work 
toward  some  fixed  point  instead  of  toward  no  point  in  par- 
ticular. 

But  some  persons  who  are  specialists  seem  to  find  trouble 
in  discovering  the  right  position.  Usually  you  find  they  spe- 
cialized before  considering  whether  there  was  any  demand  for 
their  specialty.  Being  a  specialist  on  a  subject  that  nobody 
cares  for  doesn't  do  much  good.  It  is  far  better  to  specialize 
on  some  very  small  thing  for  which  the  business  world 
does  care. 

The  writer  began  working  at  the  age  of  twelve,  and  has 
secured  and  lost  many  positions.  He  had  a  plan  for  getting 
a  position  which  was  uniformly  successful.  He  considered 
what  he  could  do  best  that  others  might  want  done,  and  then 
set  out  to  discover  some  place  where  his  accomplishments 
would  be  really  useful.  The  first  thing  he  wanted  was  a  place 
to  work  for  his  board  as  errand  boy  and  go  to  school.  He 
took  the  list  of  the  family  friends,  and  went  from  house  to 
house  asking  the  question,  Do  you  know  anybody  who  would 
take  a  boy  to  work  for  his  board  and  go  to  school?  He  hoped 
that  each  family  would  want  some  such  person,  but  he  did  not 
say.  Do  you  want  a  boy  to  work  for  his  board  and  go  to 
school?  but  Do  you  know  anyone  who  does  want  such  a 
boy?  In  this  way  he  got  a  suggestion  at  almost  every  place 
he  tried  and  was  refused.  Each  new  clue  he  followed  up,  till 
on  about  the  fifth  visit  he  found  the  right  person  and  got  his 
position.  Two  years  later  the  family  had  moved  into  another 
state,  and  he  was  obliged  to  get  another  position.  He  started 
his  inquiries  among  friends  and  relatives,  and  after  three  months 
of  fruitless  effort  he  heard  that  a  certain  lady  near  Boston  had 


GETTING  A  JOB  AND  KEEPING  IT  137 

been  trying  to  get  a  boy  from  an  orphan  asylum  to  work  for 
his  board  in  her  boarding-house  and  go  to  school.  He  walked 
two  miles  to  send  a  special  delivery  letter  lest  he  make  his 
application  too  late,  had  a  reply  stating  the  position  was  open, 
and  a  few  days  later  took  a  train  to  a  strange  city,  to-  meet  a 
woman  he  had  never  seen  before.  On  another  occasion  he 
heard  that  a  prominent  man  wanted  a  secretary,  and  he  took 
the  next  train  from  Boston  to  Philadelphia  and  got  the  posi- 
tion before  any  others  had  heard  it  was  open.  Quick  action 
when  the  time  comes  is  very  important. 

At  a  later  time  in  life  he  was  seeking  orders  for  a  certain 
kind  of  work  in  which  he  was  proficient,  namely,  writing  little 
books  on  practical  subjects.  His  plan  was  to  go  to  various 
publishers  and  business  houses  and  suggest  what  he  consid- 
ered an  interesting  plan  for  a  little  book.  The  manager  would 
say.  No,  I  wouldn't  care  to  bring  out  a  book  just  like  that, 
but  I  have  been  looking  for  a  good  man  to  write  a  book  along 
such  and  such  lines — some  ideas  of  his  own.  Do  you  think 
you  could  do  a  book  like  that?  The  reply  was,  I  shall  be  glad 
to  try,  and  if  you  really  want  that  kind  of  book,  I  will  write 
it  subject  to  your  approval.  Going  ahead  and  writing  a  book, 
however  good,  that  was  not  especially  wanted  by  some  pub- 
lisher was  not  likely  to  be  successful.  But  when  it  was 
known  that  a  certain  publisher  wanted  that  particular  kind  of 
book,  there  was  little  or  no  danger  that  it  would  not  be  ac- 
cepted and  paid  for.  The  opening  was  created  by  suggesting 
some  plan  which  was  sufficiently  interesting  to  attract  atten- 
tion, but  which  was  immediately  dropped  in  favor  of  some 
other  plan  suggested  by  the  publisher  of  something  he  really 
wanted.  The  quick  change  from  the  ideas  of  the  applicant  to 
those  of  the  employer  brought  uniform  success.  The  first  pro- 
posal gave  the  information  as  to  what  was  wanted,  information 
that  could  be  obtained  in  no  other  way. 

Long  letters  of  application  are  generally  useless,  and  at  the 
same  time  very  brief  letters  are  probably  not  the  best.     A 


138  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

scrawly  or  hasty  letter  is  never  advisable.  In  business,  neat- 
ness, accuracy,  business-like  tidiness  alv^ays  count. 

Ortiit  all  introductory  words.  Say,  You  have  advertised 
for  a  stenographer.  I  am  a  good  one,  and  these  are  the  things 
I  can  do  especially  well : 

I  can  spell  well, 

I  can  punctuate  with  common  sense, 

I  am  not  very  quick,  but  I  am  accurate  and  careful. 

You  can  trust  me  to  keep  my  mouth  closed,  and  to  look 
after  the  work,  however  I  may  feel. 

Of  course,  to  say  those  things  when  they  are  not  true  would 
be  useless.  Say  the  special  things  that  you  have  made  true. 
Speak  of  the  things  in  which  you  are  better  than  the  average — 
do  not  mention  the  things  that  can  be  said  of  anybody.  The 
latter  may  simply  be  assumed. 

The  important  thing  is  WHAT  you  say,  far  more  than  the 
way  you  say  it,  except  to  be  neat,  clear,  simple,  and  straight- 
forward. There  is  very  little  use  in  cleverness  or  art — the 
tricks  of  salesmanship  do  not  go  very  far  in  applying  for  a 
position.  Success  usually  depends  on  looking  for  the  right 
thing  in  the  right  place,  and  then  asking  for  it  in  a  simple  and 
straightforward  way  and  giving  your  reasons  briefly.  That  is 
true  salesmanship  without  the  useless  tricks. 

First  state  what  you  can  do  that  others  cannot  usually  do 
so  well. 

Then  tell  what  experience  you  have  had  or  just  why  you 
believe  you  can  do  what  you  claim. 

Finally  refer  to  some  other  people  who  may  be  able  to 
verify  what  you  say — persons  within  easy  reach,  who  really 
know  something  about  you  that  would  count  for  something. 

Now  let  us  consider  how  to  keep  a  position  after  you  get  it. 

Keeping  a  job  is  more  than  ability  to  do  the  work  assigned. 
It  is  often  a  matter  of  personal  attitude,  habits,  or  manners. 
A  young  lady  who  was  an  extra  good  stenographer  came  to 
her  teacher  and  said  she  was  unable  to  find  a  position.     She 


GETTING  A  JOB  AND  KEEPING  IT  139 

had  her  hair  combed  in  large  circles  plastered  over  the  sides 
of  her  face,  so  as  to  cover  her  ears  and  half  her  cheeks.  Said 
the  teacher,  **Go  home  and  comb  your  hair  up  in  a  sensible 
way,  just  plain  over  the  top  of  your  head,  and  I  will  get  a 
place  for  you."  She  did  this,  came  down  the  next  morning, 
and  before  night  he  had  placed  her  at  eighteen  dollars  a  week. 
A  couple  of  weeks  later  the  business  man  called  up  for  an- 
other stenographer,  saying  "That  girl  could  do  the  work  all 
right,  but  I  can't  have  a  freak  like  her  around  the  office.  The 
way  she  dresses  her  hair  would  make  customers  think  I  was 
running  a  dime  museum."  The  next  morning  the  girl  came 
into  the  office  to  get  another  job,  and  was  wearing  her  hair 
down  over  her  cheeks  as  she  had  before.  "Didn't  I  tell  you  to 
put  your  hair  up !  And  as  soon  as  you  get  a  job  you  put  it 
down  again  and  lose  the  job !"  exclaimed  the  teacher.  "I  don't 
get  another  job  for  you  unless  you  promise  on  the  Bible  that 
you  won't  dress  your  hair  in  that  ridiculous  fashion  again 
as  long  as  you  live." 

A  young  man  of  unusual  ability  as  a  correspondent  was 
discharged  from  place  after  place  because  he  had  a  habit  of 
picking  on  the  girls  in  the  office,  teasing  them,  annoying  them, 
in  a  half-playful  but  thoughtless  way.  A  girl  of  Jewish  birth 
was  discharged  because  she  told  the  affairs  of  the  office  to  out- 
side friends.  She  took  such  an  intense  interest  in  the  business 
that  she  couldn't  help  talking  about  it  and  betraying  the 
secrets  of  the  concern.    Of  course  she  was  unusually  capable. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  stupid  young  man  kept  a  position  for 
years  simply  because  he  was  faithful  and  could  always  be 
trusted  to  be  on  hand  and  do  after  a  fashion  what  he  was  told 
to  do.  His  salary  was  gradually  advanced — very  slowly  but 
steadily — until  at  the  end  of  fifteen  years  he  was  getting  twice 
as  much  as  most  of  the  brighter  young  men  who  started  in  the 
business  at  the  same  time  he  did.  A  girl  stenographer  who 
was  very  slow  kept  her  place  because  she  was  always  as  quiet 
as  a  mouse,  going  around  almost  on  tiptoe,  never  drumming 


140  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

or  making  a  sound,  fading  away  when  callers  came  in,  but  im- 
mediately ready  when  wanted  again.  Another  slow  stenog- 
rapher was  kept  for  years  because  she  was  so  accurate  and 
clean  in  her  typewriting,  making  letters  that  always  looked 
handsome.  Still  another  stenographer  who  was  rather  care- 
less in  her  work  kept  her  position  because  she  was  a  great 
harmonizer  in  the  office,  quieting  trouble,  smiling  pleasantly 
whatever  went  wrong,  and  sympathizing  with  all  who  were  in 
trouble. 

It  all  comes  back  to  having  a  good  personal  specialty,  and 
not  having  an  objectionable  personal  specialty.  The  person 
with  a  good  specialty  finds  his  or  her  niche  in  the  world  and 
keeps  it. 

The  following  examples  may  give  a  general  idea  of  how 
letters  might  be  shaped  under  certain  different  circumstances, 
namely — 

In  reply  to  an  advertisement, 

When  applying  in  person  and  asked  by  manager  to  sit 
down  and  write  a  letter  of  application  on  the  spot. 

When  making  a  general  application  for  any  position  that 
might  be  vacant, 

Here  is  an  advertisement,  and  the  important  thing  is  to 
make  the  answer  actually  give  the  manager  the  information 
he  wishes : 

STENOGRAPHER  —  Bright  high  school  graduate,  for 
position  in  large  office;  must  have  at  least  six  months' 
experience;  write  fully,  giving  age,  experience,  and  educa- 
tion; salary  to  start  |10.     Address  S  L  238,  World. 

S  L  238,  World, 

New  York  City : 

I  graduated  from  the  Washington  Irving  High  School  last 
February. 

For  the  past  six  months  I  have  been  engaged  with  the 
Singer  Sewing  Machine  Co.  on  general  office  work,  with  a  few 
letters  each  week  when  the  stenographic  department  was 
crowded.  Mr.  John  Myers,  head  of  the  correspondence  depart- 
ment, can  tell  you  of  my  work.    Call  him  up,  Canal  256. 


GETTING  A  JOB  AND  KEEPING  IT  141 

My  age  is  18  years,  and  I  am  an  American  by  birth,  from  a 
refined  family. 

In  school  I  took  the  general  commercial  course,  have  had 
over  two  years  of  shorthand  and  typewriting,  and  as  much 
bookkeeping,  together  with  the  regular  high  school  course. 
For  nearly  a  year  I  had  regular  office  practice  training  under 
an  exceptionally  good  teacher.  My  school  rank  was  never 
below  85%  on  the  average. 

You  will  find  me  a  sure  speller,  good  at  punctuation,  with  a 
shorthand  speed  of  100  words  a  minute  (average  on  repeated 
fifteen-minute  tests). 

An  interview  will  be  appreciated. 

Sarah  L.  Jennings. 

That  letter  is  likely  to  get  attention  because  it  is  straight 
to  the  point,  there  is  no  useless  and  inappropriate  introduction 
or  close,  and  it  gives,  first  of  all,  precisely  the  information 
asked  for,  adding  a  few  items  likely  to  have  weight,  but  not 
too  many. 

If  a  manager  asks  you  to  sit  down  and  write  a  letter  of 
application  he  wishes  to  see  how  you  would  handle  a  letter 
under  simple  and  confusing  circumstances — he  wants  a  sample 
of  your  work.  In  this  case  you  address  the  letter  personally 
to  him,  and  write  down  the  answers  to  the  questions  he  has 
asked  you,  telling  him  precisely  what  you  have  already  told 
him  orally.  If  you  wander  oflF  into  other  things,  you  are  likely 
to  be  on  dangerous  ground.  Tell  him  what  you  know  he 
wishes  to  know. 

Nov.  16,  1919. 
Mr.  R.  I.  Babcock, 

1920  Ordway  Building, 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 
Dear  Sir: 

This  letter  is  an  application  for  the  position  of  filing  clerk 
which  you  have  vacant. 

I   am  a  graduate  of  the  Spencerian   Commercial   School, 


142  BUSINESS  PRACTICE  UP  TO  DATE 

where  I  took  the  Combined  Course  and  spent  over  a  year.  Mr. 
Merville  can  tell  you  of  my  work. 

At  this  school  we  had  a  thorough  training  on  filing  and 
handling  office  systems,  on  which  I  spent  three  months.  We 
were  tested  for  speed  and  accuracy,  and  were  not  allowed  to 
leave  the  work  till  we  had  attained  the  average  speed  and  the 
average  accuracy  of  ordinary  working  filing  clerks. 

My  home  is  with  my  parents,  my  age  is  17  years,  and  I  am 
willing  to  work  for  $9  a  week  to  start,  if  I  can  expect  advance- 
ment as  I  show  my  ability. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Ora  J.  Swett, 
6213  Longfellow  Ave. 

Avoid  putting  in  foolish  remarks.  State  the  important 
facts  simply  and  clearly,  and  not  at  too  great  length.  Be  very 
particular  about  the  date,  address,  salutation,  and  close,  and 
always  write  your  home  address  for  easy  reference  later.  In 
this  letter  it  would  be  foolish  to  say  you  were  an  American  by 
birth  and  of  refined  family,  because  it  would  sound  egotistic 
and  the  manager  could  see  for  himself.  When  you  have  never 
seen  him,  such  an  item  is  of  considerable  importance. 

Let  us  now  consider  a  young  man  applying  for  a  general 
position  when  a  vacancy  may  appear.  More  attention  will 
be  given  to  the  future  outlook  of  the  applicant,  what  he  wants, 
and  what  he  is  determined  to  do,  than  to  what  he  actually 
can  do: 
Messrs.  Wanamaker,  Carson,  Field  &  Co., 

1419  Broadway,  New  York  City. 
Gentlemen : 

This  letter  is  my  application  for  any  promising  position 
you  may  have  to  offer,  either  now  or  later. 

I  graduated  from  the  High  School  in  Hoboken  last  June, 
where  I  had  taken  the  general  course,  with  special  attention 
to  English,  history,  and  economics. 

I  have  had  no  special  business  training  whatever,  but  I 


GETTING  A  JOB  AND  KEEPING  IT  143 

have  been  a  faithful  and  fairly  successful  general  student.  I 
have  learned  to  talk  and  to  express  myself  on  paper,  and  as 
manager  of  our  school  paper,  the  Crimson  Flag,  I  have  proved 
I  am  a  hustler,  for  I  made  the  paper  pay  all  expenses  and  $105 
over  last  year. 

I  am  willing  to  start  in  any  position  that  is  likely  to  give 
me  a  chance  to  work  up  in  time  to  a  place  as  department 
manager  in  your  retail  store.  That  is  my  ambition,  and  while 
it  may  take  me  some  time  to  realize  it,  I  wish  to  get  a  start, 
however  humble,  on  the  road  toward  it.  Perhaps  you  have  a 
position  as  stock  boy  or  even  as  office  boy  in  the  office  of  some 
buyer.  The  present  salary  is  less  a  consideration  than  my 
chances  to  learn  and  work  up. 

Aly  age  is  16,  and  I  am  living  with  my  parents.  I  should 
like  to  call  on  your  employment  manager  at  any  time  he  is 
willing  to  see  me  and  talk  with  me. 

Respectfully  yours, 

Harrison  I.  Ames. 

The  writer  of  the  preceding  letter  had  no  special  induce- 
ments to  offer,  but  it  was  a  good  thing  to  mention  his  success 
in  managing  the  school  paper.  That  fact  might  catch  the  eye 
of  the  employment  manager  and  get  him  a  chance.  He  speaks 
more  of  his  hopes  than  of  his  accomplishments.  Salesmanship 
consists  in  selecting  and  playing  up  what  you  have  that  some 
business  manager  might  want,  whether  technical  ability  or  an 
ambitious  heart. 

In  the  case  of  applications  for  positions  after  some  experi- 
ence it  becomes  important  to  select  carefully  the  names  of  per- 
sons as  references.  Often  it  is  possible  to  refer  to  someone 
other  than  an  employer.  For  example,  a  bookkeeper  gave  the 
name  of  a  public  auditor  who  had  been  over  her  books,  and 
he  proved  a  good  reference.  One  really  good  reference  is 
probably  better  than  many. 

See  Chapter  IV  on  Applying  for  a  Position  in  How  to  Do 
Business  by  Letter. 


144  COMMERCIAL  GEOGRAPHY 


APPENDIX   A 
Brief  Course  in  Commercial  Geography 

Locate  your  own  town  on  the  commercial  map  and  draw  a  small 
red  circle  around  it  (red  ink). 

If  the  railroad  connections  are  not  shown,  complete  them  with 
black  ink,  in  proper  style  to  indicate  express  companies. 

Find  out  what  the  leading  industry  in  your  locality  is,  and  write 
it  on  the  map  in  red.  Then  find  out  the  other  places  where  the  same 
Industry  flourishes  and  write  the  name  on  the  map  at  those  places. 

Determine  the  next  lower  industries,  and  mark  them  in  green  or 
blue  ink,  following  them  out  also  in  other  parts  of  the  country  and 
writing  them  on  the  map. 

Then  take  up  each  state  in  turn,  indicating  on  the  map  the  leading 
specialty  of  each.    Finally  review  all  the  work  as  follows : 

Locate  the  chief  centers  for  each  of  the  following:  agriculture, 
mining,  and  manufactures. 

Make  a  list  of  the  principal  agricultural  products,  and  mark  on  the 
map  the  leading  centers  for  each. 

Make  a  list  of  the  principal  mineral  products,  and  mark  on  the  map 
the  leading  centers  for  each. 

Make  a  list  of  the  ten  leading  manufactured  products,  and  mark  on 
the  map  the  chief  centers  for  each. 

Use  red  lead  pencil  for  agriculture,  black  lead  pencil  for  minerals, 
and  blue  lead  pencil  for  manufactures. 

With  a  green  lead  pencil  circle  each  important  port  and  trace  each 
principal  waterway.  A  glance  at  the  commercial  map  will  show  the 
connection  between  these  ports  and  the  railroad  concentration. 

The  spelling  of  each  town  and  city  in  the  following  list  is  important. 

Cities  Over  10,000  Inhabitants,  1910  Census,  Capitals  Starred. 
Alabama  (Ala.)  2,138.093 

Sixteenth  agricultural  state  (128  mil.),  3rd  in  cotton,  2nd  in  coke,  3rd 
in  iron  ore;  manufactures  (146  mil.),  cotton  (22  mil),  lumber  (26  mil.), 
iron   (21  mil.),   turpentine  and   rosin,   and  cottonseed   oil. 

Anniston  12.794  Gadsden  10,557 

Bessemer   10,864  Mobile   51.521 

Birmingham    132,685  Second  cotton  shipping  port. 

Large  manufactures  of  iron  and       *Montgomery  38,136 
steel.  Selma  13.649 


COMMERCIAL  GEOGRAPHY  145 

Alaska  Territory  (no  abbrev.)  64,356 

Leads  U.  S.  in  canning  and  preserving  fish  (19  mil.),  4th  in  gold 
mining. 

Arizona  (Ariz.)  204,354 

First  copper  mining  state,  and  engaged  in  smelting  copper  (41  mil.). 
♦Phoenix  11,134  Tucson   13,193 

Arkansas  (Ark.)  1,574,449 

Third  state  in  raising  rice;  manufactures  lumber   (40  mil.). 

Argenta  11,138  Little  Rock  45,941 

Fort  Smith  23,975  Pine  Bluff  15,102 

Hot   Springs  14,434 

Health  resort,  7  2  mineral  springs. 

California  (Cal.)  2,377,549 

Fifth  mining  state,  1st  in  petroleum,  asphalt,  borax,  gems,  platinum, 
and  quicksilver,  2nd  in  gold,  3rd  in  Portland  cement;  23rd  agricultural 
state,  1st  in  beet  sugar  and  barley,  3rd  in  hay,  6th  in  beef  cattle;  manu- 
factures wine  (9  mil.)  and  lumber  (45  mil.),  and  leads  in  raising  and  can- 
ning fruit  (32  mil.). 

Alameda  23,383  Riverside  15,212 

Bakersfield    12,727  *Sacramento  44.696 

Berkeley  40.434  San  Bernardino  12,779 

Eureka  11,845  San  Diego  39.578 

Fresno  24,892  San  Francisco  416,912 

Lone;  Beach   17  809  Gateway  to  the  Orient,  and  chief 

T  _    ^. ,1^^    -Jin  100  commercial  city  of  Pacific  coast. 

Los  Angeles  319,198  o        t         oqqak 

Famous  winter  resort.  ^^"  J*^!.^    ,    •        , ,  ^r^ 

Oakland  150.174  Santa  Barbara  11,659 

Pasadena  30.291  Santa  Cruz  11  146 

Pomona  10,207  ?r^°,?K*°",  H'?>5^ 

Redlands  10,449  Vallejo    11,340 

Colorado  (Colo.)  799,024 

Seventh  mineral  state,  1st  in  gold.  2nd  in  zinc,  4th  in  silver  and  In 
lead;  3rd  beet  sugar  state. 

Colorado  Springs  29,078  Pueblo  44,395 

♦Denver  213.381  Trinidad  10,204 

Mining    center     of     Rocky    Moun- 
tains. 

Connecticut  (Conn.)  1,114,756 

Twelfth  manufacturing  state  (490  mil.),  leading  in  brassware  (67 
mil.):  also  foundry  products  (66  mil.),  cotton  (24  mil.),  and  silk  (21  mil.), 
as  well  as  ammunition,  clocks,  and  plated  ware;  5th  tobacco  raising  state. 

Ansonia   15.152  *Hartford  98.915 

Bridgeport   102.054  National  insurance. 

Leads    in    manufacturing  corsets       Manchester   13.641 

<6  mil.).  Meriden  32,066 

Bristol    13,502  Leads     in     manufacturing    plated 

Danbury  23  502  tableware. 

Manufactures  hats  (2nd  city).  Middletovvn  20,749 

Greenwich    16,463  Naugatuck  12,722 


146 


COMMERCIAL  GEOGRAPHY 


New  Britain  43,916 

Leads  in  manufacturing  hardware. 
New  Haven  133,605 
New   London   19,659 
Norwalk  24,211 
Norwich  28  219 
Orange  11,272 
Stamford  28,836 


Torrinp-ton  16,840 
Wallingford  11,155 
Waterbury    73,141 

Leads      in      manufacturing 
and  copper   (31   mil.), 
Windham  12,604 
Willimantic  11,230 


brass 


Delaware  (Del.)  202,322 

Manufactures  leather   (12  mil.)   and  raises  fruit. 
♦Dover  3,720  Wilmington  87,411 

District  of  Columbia  (D.  C.)  331,069 

Washington  331,069 

Seat  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, and  most  beautiful  city  in  the 

Florida  (Fla.)  752,619 

First  state  in  producing  phosphate  rock,  4th  in  brick;  manufactures 
turpentine  and  rosin  (12  mil.),  tobacco  (22  mil.),  lumber  (20  mil.),  and 
ships   (21  mil.).     Famous  for  oranges  and  winter  vegetables. 


country,  with  finest  public  buildings. 


Pensacola  22.982 
♦Tallahasee  5,018 
Tampa  37,782 


Jacksonville  57.699 
Key  West   19,945 

Manufactures  tobacco. 

Georgia  (Ga.)  2,609,121. 

Ninth  agricultural  state,  2nd  in  cotton,  2nd  in  asbestos;  manufac- 
tures cotton  (48  mil.),  cottonseed  oil  (23  mil.),  and  lumber  (24  mil.). 
Center  for  fertilizers,  and  turpentine  and   rosin. 


Athens  14,913 
♦Atlanta  154.839 
Augusta  41,040 

Great  cotton  market  and  manufac- 
turing  center. 
Brunswick  10,182 


Columbus  20,554 
Macon  40.665  * 
Rome  12.099 
Savannah  65,064 
Waycross  14,485 


Idaho  (no  abbrev.)  325,594 

Second  in  lead,  4lh  in  asbestos,  and  5th  in  silver  mining;  4th  wool  state. 
♦Boise  17,358 

Illinois  (111.)  5,638,591 

Second  agricultural  state  (289  mil. — at  time.s  leads  Texas),  1st  in  corn, 
2nd  in  oats,  2nd  in  hogs  and  horses,  4th  in  cows;  3rd  in  minerals,  2nd  in 
coal,  3rd  in  petroleum  and  iron  mining;  3rd  manufacturing  state  (1,919 
mil.),  leading  in  meat  packing  (390  mil.),  and  including  agricultural  imple- 
ments (57  mil.),  machinery  and  foundry  products  (139  mil.),  men's  cloth- 
ing (89  mil.),  cars  and  car  repairs  (62  mil.),  iron  (125  mil.),  distilled 
~        ""  -    -       -  -    j^ji  ) 


liquors    (55   mil.),   and   lumber    (4i 

Alton   17.528 
Aurora  29,807 
Belleville  21,122 


Bloomington  25,768 
Cairo  14,548 
Canton  10,453 


COMMERCIAL  GEOGRAPHY 


147 


Galesburi^  22,089 
Jacksonville  15,326 
JoHet  34,670 
Kankakee  13.986 
La  Salle   11,537 
Lincoln  10,892 
Mattoon  11,456 
Moline  24,199 
Oak  Park  19  444 
Peoria  66,950 

Leads  U.  S.  in  manufacturing  dis- 
tilled liquors  (45  mil.). 
Quincy  36587 
Rock  Island  24,335 
Rockford  45.401 
♦Sprinofield   51,678 
Streator   14,253 
VVaukegan  16,069 


Champaign   12,421 
Chicago  2,185,283 

Leads  in  sJaugiitering,  wholesal- 
ing, and  grain  trading,  and  in  mail- 
order business;  railroad  center  of 
tlie  country  (35  railroads  enter 
here);  2nd  manufacturing  city, 
clothing  (men's  85  mil.,  women's  16 
mil.),  iron  (46  mil.),  machinery  (90 
mil.),  furniture  (21  mil.),  lumber 
33  mil.),  electrical  goods  (21  mil.), 
etc. 

Chicago  Heights  14,525 
Cicero  14,557 
Danville  27,871 
Decatur  31,140 
East  St.  Louis  58,547 
Elgin  25,976 

Manufactures   watches. 
Evanston  24,978 
Freeport  17,567 

Indiana  (Ind.)  2,700,876 

Tenth  state  in  mineral  production,  2nd  in  cement,  3rd  in  mineral 
waters,  5th  in  coal;  11th  in  agriculture  (154  mil.),  5th  in  hogs,  5th  in  corn, 
6th  in  oats;  manufactures  meat  products  (47  mil.),  iron  (39  mil.),  carriages 
(22  mil.),  distilled  liquors  (31  mil.),  and  glass. 

Anderson   22,476 
East  Chicago  19,098 
Elkhart  19,282 
El  wood  11.028 
Evansville  69,647 
Fort  Wayne  63,933 
Gary  16.802 
Hammond  20.925 
Huntington   10,272 
♦Indianapolis  233.650 

Packs  meat   (39  mil.),  and  makes 
autos    (9   mil.). 
Jeffersonville  10,412 
Kokomo  17.010 
Lafayette  20.081 


Laporte  10,525 
Logansport   19,050 
Marion   19,359 
Michigan  City  19,027 
Mishawaka   11,886 
Muncie  24,005 
New  Albany  20,629 
Peru  10,910 
Richmond  22.324 
South  Bend  53,684 

Studebaker  carriage  factories  and 
Oliver  plow   works. 
Terre  Haute  58.157 
Vincennes  14,895 


Iowa  (no  abbrev.)  2,224,771 


Third  agricultural  state  (284  mil.),  1st  in  oats,  2nd  in  corn,  1st  in 
horses.  2nd  in  beef  cattle,  3rd  in  cows,  1st  in  hogs;  manufactures  dairy 
products  (26  mil.),  meat  products  (59  mil.);  8th  in  clay  and  brick. 


Boone   10,347 
Burlington  24.324 
Cedar   Rapids  32  811 
Clinton  25.577 
Council   Bluffs  29,292 
Davenport  43.028 
*Des  Moines  86.368 
Dubuque  38.494 
Fort  Dodge  15,543 


Iowa  City  10.091 
Keokuk  14.008 
Marshalltown   13.374 
Mason  City  11,230 
Muscatine   16.178 
Ottumwa  22  012 
Sioux  City  47,828 
Waterloo   26.693 


148  COMMERCIAL  GEOGRAPHY 

Kansas  (Kan.)  1,690,949. 

Sixth  agricultural  state  (182  mil.),  2nd  in  wheat,  2nd  in  corn,  4th  in 
beef  cattle;  2nd  in  mining  pumice,  3rd  in  cement,  4th  in  natural  gas  and 
in  salt,  6th  in  zinc;  2nd  state  in  meat  packing  (165  mil.),  flour  (68  mil.), 
and  zinc  smelting   (10  mil.). 

Atchison    16,429  Lawrence  12,374 

Coffeyville  12,687  Leavenworth    19,363 

Fort  Scott  10,463  Parsons   12,463 

Hutchinson  16,364  Pittsburgh    14.755 

Vein  of  salt  350  feet  thick.  *Topeka  43,684 

Independence   10,480  Wichita  52,450 

Kansas  City  82,331  Largest  broomcorn  market  in  the 

Next   to   Chicago    in  slaughtering       world. 
(148  mil.). 

Kentucky  (Ky.)  2,289,905 

Leading  state  in  producing  tobacco,  4th  in  asphalt,  7th  in  coal;  manu- 
factures tobacco   (19  mil.)  and  whiskey   (44  mil.). 

Covington  53.270  Louisville   223,928 

♦Frankfort    10,465  Largest    tobacco     market     in    the 

Henderson   11,452  ^«^1^:  "'/"in^tno'''"^^  ^^  "'^^• 

Lexington  35,099  Newport  30,309 

^  '  Owensboro   16,011 

Paducah  22,760 

Louisiana  (La.)  1,656,388 

Leads  in  producing  rice,  cane  sugar,  and  sulphur,  6th  in  salt,  8th  in 
petroleum,  and  9th  in  natural  gas;  refines  sugar  (64  mil.),  cleans  rice  (13 
mil.),  and  manufactures  lumber  (63  mil.),  and  cottonseed  oil   (13  mil.), 

Alexandria  11,213  New  Orleans  339,075 

♦Baton  Rouge  14,897  Largest   cotton   market   and   prin- 

T  olr^    riinrlpc    ^  ^  ddQ  cipal    port    of    export,    with    foreign 

Lake  i^naries   ii.^^y  ^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  York. 

Monroe    10,209  Shreveport  28,015 

Maine  (no  abbrev.)  742,371 

Third  state  in  producing  slate,  4th  for  lime,  mineral  waters,  and  pota- 
toes; manufactures  lumber  (22  mil.),  marble  and  slate  (34  mil.),  cotton 
(22  mil.),  woolens   (18  mil.),  and  shoes   (16   mil.). 

Auburn  15.064  Lewiston    26,247 

♦Augusta  13,211  Portland  58,571 

Bangor  24,803  Waterville  11,458 
Biddeford   17,079 

Maryland  (Md.)  1,295,346 

A  leading  oyster  center;  9th  state  for  pig  iron;  manufactures  men's 
clothing  (37  mil.),  sheet  metal  (17  mil.),  tobacco  (10  mil.),  fertilizers  (7 
mil.),  and  canned  goods  (14  mil.).     Second  in  oysters. 

Annapolis  8.609  Frederick  10,411 

Baltimore   558,485  Hagerstown  16,507 

Massachusetts  (Mass.)  3,366,416 

Fourth  manufacturing  state  (1,490  mil.),  shoes  (236  mil.),  cotton   (186 
mil.),  woolens  (142  mil.),  paper  (40  mil.),  leather   (40  mil.),  confectionery 
(15  mil.),  knit  goods  (15  mil.),  and  jewelry   (15  mil.). 
Adams    13,026  Attleborough    16,215 

Arlington  11,187  Beverly  18,650 


COMMERCIAL  GEOGRAPHY 


149 


♦Boston  670,585 

Hub  of  American  culture  (Har- 
vard University  at  Cambridge,  ad- 
joining Boston),  and  trade  center  of 
New  England;  8th  manufacturing 
city  (shoes  26  mil.). 
Brockton  56,878 

Among     first     in     manufacturing 
shoes  (39  mil.). 
Brookline  27,792 
Cambridge  104,839 
Chelsa   32,452 
Chicopee    25,401 
Clinton  13.075 
Everett  33,484 
Fall  River  119,295 

Leads    in    manufacturing     cotton 
(49    mil.). 

Fitchburg  37,826 
Framingham    12,948 
Gardner  14,699 
Gloucester    24,398 
Greenfield    10,427 
Haverhill   44.115 
Holyoke  57,730 

Manufactures  paper  (12  mil.). 
Hyde   Park  15.507 
Lawrence  85,892 

Leads   in    manufacturing   worsted 
goods    (59    mil.). 
Leominster  17,580 
Lowell   106.294 

Among  the  first  in  manufacturing 
cotton   (25  mil.). 
Lynn   89,336 

Leads  in  manufacturing  shoes  (47 
mil.). 

Michigan  (Mich.)  2,810,173 

First  state  in  brick  and  in  salt,  2nd  in  iron  ore,  3rd  in  copper,  4th  in 
gypsum.  2nd  in  beet  sugar,  3rd  in  potatoes  and  in  rye:  7th  manufacturing 
state  (685  mil.),  autos  (97  mil.),  lumber  (62  mil.),  flour  (35  mil.),  furni- 
ture (29  mil.),  salt  (17  mil.),  tobacco  (16  mil.),  beet  sugar  (10  mil.),  and 
chemicals  (13  mil.).  Calumet  &  Hecla  copper  mine,  richest  in  the  world. 
Adrian  10.763 


Maiden  44,404 
Marlborough  14,579 
Medford  23,150 
Melrose   15,715 
Methuen    11,448 
Milford  13,055 
New  Bedford  96,652 

Second    in    manufacturing    cotton 
(43  mil.). 

Newburyport    14,949 
Newton  39,806 
North  Adams  22.019 
Northampton  19,431 
Peabody  15,721 
Pittsfield  32,121 
Plymouth    12,141 
.Quincy  32,642 
Revere  18,219 
Salem  43.697 
Somerville  77,236 
Southbridge    12,592 
Springfield  88.926 

U.  S.  Arsenal. 
Taunton  34,259 
Wakefield  11404 
Waltham  27,834 

•Among  the  first  centers  of  watch- 
making. 

Watertovvn  12,875 
Webster  11,509 
Westfield  16,044 
Weymouth  12,895 
Winthrop  10.132 
Woburn  15,308 
Worcester  145,986 


Alpena   12.706 
Ann  Arbor  14.817 
Battle   Creek  25  267 
Bay  City  45.166 
Detroit  465,766 

Sixth  manufacturing  city,  leads  in 
autos  (60  mil.),  and  drugs  (12  mil.); 
tobacco  (13  mil.). 
Escanaba  13,194 
Flint  38,550 
Grand  Rapids  112,571 
Holland   10,490 
Ironwood  12,821 


Ishpeming  12,448 
Iron   mining  center. 

Jackson  31,433 

Kalamazoo   39,437 

*Lansing  31.229 

Manistee   12.381 

Marquette   11,503 

Menominee    10,507 

Muskegon   24,062 

Pontiac  14,532 

Port  Huron  18,863 

Saginaw  50,510 

Sault  Ste.  Marie  12,615 
Great  interlake  ship  canaL 

Traverse  City  12,115 


150  • 


COMMERCIAL  GEOGRAPHY 


Minnesota  (Minn.)  2,075,708 

First  state  for  iron  ore,  2nd  for  brick;  8th  agricultural  state  (161  mil.), 
2nd  in  barley,  3rd  in  wheat  and  oats,  4th  in  rye;  leads  in  flour  milling  (139 
mil.);  manufactures  lumber  (42  mil,),  brick  (25  mil,),  meat  products  (26 
mil.),  and  linseed  oil   (11  mil,). 


Duluth  78,466 

Lake  shipping  port  for  grain,  iron, 
and  lumber. 
Mankato  10,365 
Minneapolis  301,4r8 

Flour  milling  center  of  the  world 
(79  mil.);  manufactures  lumber  (12 
mil.). 


St.   Cloud   10  600 
*St   Paul  214*744 

Manufactures   fur  goods   (3  mil.). 
Stillwater  10,198 
Virginia  10,473 
Winona  18,583 


Mississippi  (Miss.)  1,797,114. 


I'-ourth  cotton  growing  state;  manufactures  lumber  (43  mil.),  and  cot- 
tonseed oil   (16  mil.).     Among  first  in  oyster  packing. 


Hattiesburg  11,733 
*Jackson  21,262 
Meridian  23,285 


Natchez   11,791 
Vicksburg  20,814 


Missouri  (Mo.)  3,293,335 

Fourth  agricultural  state  (197  mil.),  3rd  in  corn,  8rd  in  mules,  5th  in 
beef  cattle;  8th  mineral  state,  1st  in  lead  and  zinc;  10th  manufacturing 
state  (574  mil.),  slaughtering  (80  mil.),  shoes  (49  mil.),  milling  (46  mil.), 
tobacco  (31  mil.),  beer  (27  mil.),  men's  clothing  (15  mil.),  and  confectionery 
(7  mil.);   roasting  coffee   (12  mil.). 

Hannibal  18.341 
*Jefferson  City  11,850 
Joplin  32  073 
Kansas  City  248,381 

(See  Kansas  City,  Kans. 
packing.) 
Moberly  10.923 
St.  Joseph  77,403 


St.  Louis  687,029 

Fourth  manufacturing  city,  shoes 
(34  mil.),  beer  (23  mil.),  meat  prod- 
ucts   (27    mil.),    carriages    (6    mil.), 
and    smoking    and    chewing    tobacco 
for  meat        (among  first  in  U.  S.). 
Sedalia  17.822 
SDringfield  35.201 
Webb  City  11,817 


Montana  (Mont.)  376,053 

Leading  wool  state,  9th  mineral  state,  gold,  silver,  lead,  and  copper 

Anaconda  10.134  *Helena  12.515 

Billings  10,031 
Butte  39,165 
Great  Falls  13,948 


One  of  the  richest  cities  of  its 
size  in  the  world,  because  of  mines. 
Missoula  12,869 


Nebraska  (Nebr.)  1,192,214 


Thirteenth  agricultural  state  (142  mil.),  3rd  for  beef  cattle  and  hogs, 
4th  m  wheat.  8th  in  corn,  1st  state  for  producing  pumice;  slaughtering 
(92  mil.),  and  milling   (18  mil.). 


Grand  Island   10,326 
♦Lincoln  43,973 


Omaha    124.096 
South  Omaha  26,259 

Among  the  first  in  meat  packing. 


COMMERCIAL  GEOGRAPHY 


151 


Nevada  (Nev.)  81,875. 


Leading  silver  state, 
in  lead, 

♦Carson  City  2,466 
U.  S.  Mint. 


3rd   in  gold  and  quicksilver,   5th  in  copper,   7th 
Reno  10,867 


New  Hampshire  (N.  H.)  430,572 


Leads  in  quarrying  granite,  3rd  state  for  mica;  manufactures  shoes 
(39  mil.),  cotton  (34  milj,  woolens  (17  mil."),  lumber  (15  mil.),  and  paper 
(14  mil.).     It  is  a  summer  resort  called  the  Switzerland  of  America. 

Berlin  11,780 
♦Concord  21,497 
Dover  13,247 
Keene   10.068 
Laconia   10,183 


Manchester  70,063 

Manufactures    cotton    (Amoskeag 
mills),  and  shoes  (18  mil.). 
Nashua  26,005 
Portsmouth  11,269 

U.    S.    Navy   Yard. 


New  Jersey  (N.  J.)  2,537,167. 


Sixth  manufacturing  state  (1,145  mil.),  leading  in  smelting  copper  (126 
mil.),  silk  (65  mil.),  machinery  (65  mil.),  leath-er  (28  mil.),  woolens  (34 
mil.),  tobacco  (24  mil.),  chemicals  (23  mil.),  liquors  (20  mil.),  electrical 
goods  (28  mil.),  dyed  goods  (16  mil.),  lumber  (13  mil.),  jewelry  (13  mil.), 
cotton  (14  mil.),  wire  (29  mil.),  soap  (14  mil.),  paint  (13  mil.),  pottery 
(13  mil.),  rubber  (20  mil.),  cordage  (11  mil.),  oilcloth  and  linoleum  (10 
mil.),  hats  (9  mil.),  glass  (7  mil.),  refining  oil;  among- the  first  in  fertil- 
izers. 


Asbury  Park  10.150 
Atlantic  City  46,150 
Bayonne  55.545 
Bloomfield  15.070 
Bridgton    14.209 
Camden  94,538 
East   Orange  34,371 
Elizabeth  73,409 
Garfield    10,213 
Hackensack    14,050 
Harrison    14  498 
Hoboken  70.324 
Irvington  11,877 
Jersey  City  267.779 
Kearny    18.659 
Long  Branch  13,298 
Afillville  12,451 
Montclair    21,550 
Morristown  12,507 
Xew  Brunswick  23,388 


Newark  347,469 

Eleventh       manufacturing       city, 
leather  (19  mil.),  jewelry   (13  mil.), 
paints    (7   mil.),  chemicals    (5   mil.), 
and  hats   (4  mil.). 
Orange  29,630 
Passaic   54.773 

Manufactures    worsted    (17    mil.). 
Paterson    125,600 

Largest  silk  factories  in  the  coun- 
try (40  mil.). 
Perth  Amboy  32,121 

Largest  copper  smelting  works  in 
the  world. 

Phillipsburg    13.903 
Plainfield  20,550 
♦Trenton  96,815 

Among  the  first  in  clay  products 
(7  mil.). 
Union   21,023 
West  Hoboken  35.403 
West  New  York  13.560 
West  Orange  10,980 


New  Mexico  (N.  Mex.)  327,301 

Fifth  wool  state,  5th  in  gems,   6th  in  mica,  8th  in  silver  and  in  zinc, 
9th  in  lead. 

Albuquerque  11,020  *Santa  Fe  5,072 

Finest    turquoise    mines     in     the 
world.    Founded  by  Spanish  in  1542. 


152 


COMMERCIAL  GEOGRAPHY 


New  York  (N.  Y.)  9,113,614 


Leading  manufacturing  state  (3,369  mil.),  machinery  (154  mil.),  bakery 
goods  (86  mil.),  beer  (78  mil.),  tobacco  (77  mil.),  lumber  (73  mil.),  knit 
goods  (67  mil),  meat  products  (127  mil.),  paper  (49  mil.),  electrical  goods 
(49  mil.),  shoes  (48  mil.),  millinery  (52  mil.),  furniture  (42  mil.),  fur 
goods  (41  mil.),  women's  clothing  (35  mil.),  musical  instruments  (34  mil.), 
autos  (31  mil.),  drugs  (37  mil.),  paints  (29  mil.),  confectionery  (26  mil.), 
cotton  (20  mil.),  soap  (24  mil.),  woolen  goods  (24  mil.),  typewriters  (10 
mil.),  wire  (10  mil.),  rubber  goods  (9  mil.),  food  preparations  (17  mil.), 
agricultural  implements  (15  mil.),  carriages  (13  mil.),  iron  (66  mil.), 
leather    (48    mil.),   and   men's  clothing    (266    mil.). 

Twelfth  agricultural  state,  1st  for  dairy  cows,  potatoes,  and  hay,  2nd 
for  buckwheat. 

Sixth  mineral  state,  1st  for  salt,  2nd  for  stone,  mineral  waters,  sand 
and  gravel,  3rd  for  brick. 

Leading  state  for  publishing  (217  mil.),  banking,  and  export. 


♦Albany  100,253 
Amsterdam    31.267 
Auburn  34,668 
Batavia    11,613 
Binghamton  48,443 
Buffalo  423,715 

Lake  port,  head  of  Erie  canal; 
ninth  manufacturing  city,  flour  (20 
mil.),  autos  (10  mil.),  meat  products 
(25  mil.),  machinery  (21  mil.),  malt 
and  malt  liquors  (14  mil.),  soap  (9 
mil.). 

Cohoes  24,709 
(horning  13  730 
Cortland  11,504 
Dunkirk  17,221 
Elmira  37,176 
Fulton  10,480 
Geneva    12,446 
Glens  Falls  15,243 
Gloversville  20,642 

Nearly  half  U.  S.  gloves  are  made 
here  and  in  Johnstown  adjoining. 
Hornell  13,617 
Hudson  11,417 
Ithaca  14,802 
Jamestown  31,297 
Johnstown  10.447 
Kingston  25,908 
Lackawanna   14,549 
Little   Falls   12,273 
Lockport    17,970 
Middletown    15,313 
Mount  Vernon  30,919 
New  Rochelle  28.867 
New  York  4,766,883 

Financial  and  commercial  center 
of  the  United  States,  principal  for- 
eign port,  and  chief  publishing  cen- 
ter (184  mil.);  largest  manufactur- 
ing city  (2,030  mil.),  men's  clothing 
(218  mil.),  meat  products  (96  mil.), 
machinery    (64    mil.),    tobacco    (62 


mil.),   beer   53   mil.),  fur  goods   (40 
mil.),  confectionery  (20  mil.),  etc. 
Manhattan  Borough  2,331,542 
Bronx  Borough  430,980 
Brooklyn  Borough  1,634,351 
Richmond  Borough  85,969 
Queens  Borough  284,041 

Newburgh  27,805 
Niagara   Falls  30,445 

One  of  the  largest  waterfalls  in 
the  world  and  resort  for  tourists; 
immense  water  power  carried  by 
electricity  to  Buffalo  and  other 
cities. 

North  Tonawanda   11,955 
Ogdensburg  15,933 
Olean   14,743 
Ossining  11,480 
Oswego  23,368 
Peekskill   15  245 
Plattsburgh  11,138 
Port  Chester  12,809 
Poughkeepsie    27,936 
Rensselaer  10,711 
Rochester  218,149 

World-famous    nurseries;     manu- 
factures   men's    clothing    (19    mil.), 
and  shoes  (13  mil.). 
Rome  20,4;7 
Saratoga   Springs   12,693 
Schenectady  72,826 
Syracuse  137,249 

Center  of  salt  region. 
Troy  76,813 

Manufactures      men's     wear      (14 
mil.);    said    to   produce   90   per   cent 
of  collars  and  cuffs  in  U.  S. 
Utica  74,419 
Watertown  26,730 
Watervliet  15,074 
White  Plains  15,949 
Yonkers  79,803 


COMMERCIAL  GEOGRAPHY  153 

North  Carolina  (N.  C.)  2,206,287 

Second  tobacco  raising  state;  1st  in  mica;  manufactures  cotton  (73 
mil.),  tobacco  (36  mil.),  and  lumber  (34  mil.);  leads  in  producing  resin, 
turpentine,  and  tar. 

Asheville  18,762  Greensboro  15,895 

Charlotte  34,014       ^  *Raleigh  19,218 

Durham  18,241  Wilmington   25,748 

Leads  state  in  manufacture.  Winston   17  167 

North  Dakota  (N.  Dak.)  577,056 

First  state  for  wheat  and  flax,  4th  in  barley,  7th  in  oats;  mills  flour 
(12  mil.). 

*Bismarck  5,443.  Grand  Forks  12,478 

Fargo   14,331 

Ohio  (no  abbrev.)  4,767,121 

Second  mineral  state  (185  mil.),  1st  in  clay,  2nd  in  pig  iron,  3rd  in 
salt,  4th  in  coal;  5th  agricultural  state,  3rd  in  sheep  (wool)  and  horses,  4th 
in  hogs,  6th  in  corn  and  in  potatoes,  4th  in  hay,  in  tobacco,  and  in  oats; 
5th  manufacturing  state  (1,438  mil.),  leading  in  rubber  (54  mil.);  also  ma- 
chinery (146  mil.),  autos  (39  mil.),  carriages  (22  mil.),  clay  products  (21 
mil.),  shoes  (32  mil.),  men's  clothing  (25  mil.),  women's  clothing  (19  mil.), 
lumber  (35  mil.),  iron  and  steel  (281  mil.),  electrical  goods  (19  mil.),  agri- 
cultural implements  (14  mil.),  glass  (14  mil.),  p^per  (17  mil.),  meat  prod- 
ucts (51  mil.),  soap  (17  mil.),  stone  (15  mil.),  whiskey  (12  mil.),  sheet  me ta* 
(19   mil.),   tobacco    (29   mil.);   refining  pretroleum    (11   mil.). 

Akron  69.067  Findlay  14,858 

Said  to  produce  over  20  per  cent       Hamilton    35,279 
of  U.  S.  rubber  goods.  i^^„4^^„    \■^^A7 

Alliance   15,083  Ironton   13,  47 

Ashtabula   i8,266         ^  T  f  ^^^r  llml 

Bellaire    12,946  T H^f  1(?  qoR  ' 

Cambridge    11,327  h^.^n  98S«^ 

Canton  50,217  {.""'^'^  ?!' on  7aq 

Chillicothe    14.508  ^^"'^f^'^ifoo^^ 

Cincinnati   363,591  M^Hnn  1«7r> 

Twelfth   manufacturing  city   (195  ,;        -,,        T,t^r» 

mil.),  meat  products   (19  mil.),  ma-  Massillon    13,8/y 

chinery     (IS    mil.),    men's    clothing  Middletown    13,152 

(17   mil.)     shoes    (15   mil.),  etc.  Newark   25.404 

Lleveland  5o0,oo3  VorwnoH  16  18=^ 

Fifth     manufacturing     city      (272  p:?.'^,'!    ?? -?«« 

mil.),  iron  and  steel  (76  mil.),  autos  riqua    io,JOO 

(21    mil),    meat  products    (17    mil.),  Portsmouth    23.481 

women's  clothing  (13  mil.);  refining  Sandusky   19,989 

%'r  1       K       1Q1  C11  Springfield  46.921 

*Columbus  181,511  QL„Kt«,.;ii^   99701 

^-^     .        ii^-T-T  Steubenville   22,391 

Dayton  116,^77  j-cc     11  §94 

Cash   registers  made  by  National  rj,   ,     ,      J^q  .(^^ 

Cash  Register  Company  and  others.  ioieao    105  4y/ 

East  Liverpool  20.387  Warren    11,081 

Second  city  for  potteries.  Youngstown   79,066 

Elyria  14,825  Zanesville   28,026 

Oklahoma  (Okla.)   1,657,155 

Second  state  for  petroleum,  5th  for  natural  gas  and  for  asphalt,  6th 
for  lead;  manufactures  flour  (19  mil.),  and  cottonseed  oil  (5  mil.). 

Chickasha  10,320  Muskogee  25,278 

Enid  13,799  Oklahoma  City  64,205 

♦Guthrie  11,654  Shawnee  12,474 

McAlester  12,954  Tulsa  18,182 


154 


COMMERCIAL  GEOGRAPHY 


Oregon  (Ore.)  672,765 


Second  state  for  platinum,   6th  for  sheep    (wool);   manufactures  lum- 
ber  (30  mil.). 

Portland  207  214  *Salem  14,094 


Pennsylvania  (Pa.)  7,665,111 


Leading  mineral  state  (585  mil.),  producing  about  one-quarter  of  the 
entire  U.  S.  output,  almost  the  only  producer  of  anthracite  coal,  and  over 
one-third  of  the  bituminous  coal;  leading  also  in  producing  cement,  coke, 
pig  iron,  lime,  mineral  paints,  sand  and  gravel,  and  building  stone,  and  it 
is  2nd  in  clay  products,  natural  gas,  and  graphite,  5th  in  petroleum,  9th  in 
iron  ore  and  mineral  waters. 

Seventh  agricultural  state  (176  mil.),  1st  in  buckwheat,  2nd  in  rye,  in 
potatoes,  and  in  hay,  and   7th  in  tobacco. 

Second  state  in  wealth  and  in  manufacturing  (2,627  mil.),  leading  in 
iron  and  steel  (898  mil.);  also  leather  (83  mil.),  woolen  goods  (77  mil.), 
lumber  (57  mil.),  knit  goods  (50  mil.),  tobacco  (50  mil.),  silk  (62  mil.), 
silverware  (52  mil.),  flour  (45  mil.),  men's  clothing  (40  mil.),  women's 
clothing  (33  mil.),  beer  (48  mil.),  electrical  goods  (31  mil.),  furniture  (19 
mil.),  clay  products  (13  mil.),  paper  (20  mil.),  hats  (13  mil.),  confectionery 
(14  mil.),  and  Portland  cement  (19  mil.). 

Allentown   51,913 


Ma.nufactures  silk  (7  mil.). 
Altoona  52,127 
Beaver  Falls  12,191 
Bethlehem  12,837 
Braddock  19,357 
Bradford  14,544 
Butler  20,728 
Carbondale  17,040 
Carlisle  10,303 
Carnegie  10.009 
Chambersburg   11,800 
Chester  38,537 
Coatesville    11,084 
Columbia  11,454 
Connellsville  12,845 
Dubois  12,623 
Dunmore    17,615 
Duquesne  15,727 
Easton  28,523 
Erie  66,525 

Leading  center  for  making  boilers 
and  engines. 
Greensburg  13,012 
♦Harrisburg  64,186 
Hazelton  25,452 
Homestead    18,713 
Johnstown  55,482 
Lancaster  47,227 
Lebanon  19,240 
McKees  Rocks  14,702 
McKeesport  42,694 

Largest  pipe  works  in  the  world. 
Mahanoy  City  15,936 
Meadville    12.780 
Monessen   11,775 
Mount   Carmel    17,532 
Nanticoke  18.877 


New  Castle  36,280 
Norristown  27,875 
North    Braddock    11,824 
Oil  City  15,657 
Old  Forge  11,324 
Philadelphia   1,549,008 

Third  city  in  wealth,  population, 
and  manufactures  (747  mil.),  woolen 
goods  (55  mil.),  women's  clothing 
(30  mil.),  men's  clothing  (29  mil.), 
knit  goods  (24  mil.),  leather  (24 
mil.),  carpets  (23  mil.),  meat  prod- 
ucts (22  mil.),  and  hats  (10  mil.). 
Among  first  in  publishing  (46  mil.). 
Phoenixville  10,743 
Pittsburgh  533,905 

Leads  in  manufacturing  iron  and 
steel  (125  mil.);  7th  manufacturing 
city    (243    mil.). 

Allegheny    (part    of    Pittsburgh). 
Said     to     manufacture    more     than 
one-fifth    of   all    the   pickles    in    the 
United   States. 
Pittston  16,267 
Plymouth   16.996 
Pottstown   15,599 
Pottsville  29,236 
Reading  96.071 

Center  of  anthracite  coal  trade. 
Scranton   129,867 

Largest  correspondence  school  in 
the  world;  manufactures  silk  (7 
mil.). 

Shamokin    19,588 
Sharon  15,270 
Shenandoah   25,774 
South    Bethlehem   19,973 
South   Sharon   10,190 
Steelton  14,246 
Sunbury  13,770 
Uniontown   13,344 


COMMERCIAL  GEOGRAPHY  155 

Warren   11,080  Wilkinsburg  18,924 

Washington    18.778  Willia'msport  31,860 

West  Chester  11.767  York  44,750 
Wilkes-Barre  67,105 

Rhode  Island  (R.  I.)  542,610 

Leads  in  manufacturing  jewelry  (21  mil.),  and  worsted  goods  (75 
mil.);   cotton    (50  mil.),  macliinery   (21   mil.),   and  dyed   goods. 

Central  Falls  22,754  ^Providence  224,326 

Cranston  21,107  Leads   in   jewelrv   and   silverware 

Cumberland    10,107  (20    mil.);    also    worsted   goods    (30 

NVw„^:?l7  Uq'  ^'-^^  Warwick  26  629 

k:'r::LFiiL  woonsocket  38,125 

Manufactures  cotton    (14   mil.). 

South  Carolina  (S.  C.)  1,515,400 

Third  state  for  phosphate  rock,  5th  for  mica.  2nd  for  mules,  5th  for 
cotton;  manufactures  cotton  (66  mil.),  and  cottonseed  oil  (11  mil.). 

Charleston  58.833  Greenville   15.741 

♦Columbia  26,319  Spartanburg  17,517 

South  Dakota  (S.  Dak.)  583,888 

Second  state  for  mica,  5th  for  gold;   6th  wheat  state. 
Aberdeen    10.753  Sioux  Falls   14,094 

*Pierre  3,656 

Tennessee  (Tenn.)  2,184,789 

Second  state  for  phosphates,  7th  for  copper,  8th  for  iron  ore  and  pig 
Iron:  8th  in  growing  tobacco;  manufactures  lumber  (30  mil.),  and  flour 
(29  mil.). 

Chattanooga  44.604  Memphis   131.105 

Jackson   15.779  *Nashville  110.364 

Knoxville   36,346 

Texas  (Tex.)  3,896,542 

At  present  the  leading  agricultural  state  (407  mil.),  1st  in  mules  and 
in  beef  cattle,  1st  in  cotton,  2nd  in  rice,  and  4th  in  corn;  2nd  for  asphalt 
and  for  quicksilver,  7th  for  salt  and  for  petroleum,  9th  for  silver;  manu- 
factures meat  products  (43  mil.),  cottonseed  oil  (30  mil.),  lumber  (32  mil.), 
and  flour,  32  mil.). 

*Austin  29.860  Houston  78.800 

Beaumont  20,640  Laredo  14,855 

Brownsville    10.517  Marshall  11,452 

Cleburne  10.364  Palestine  10,482 

Dallas  92,104  Paris  11,269 

Denison   13.632  San  Angelo  10.321 

El  Paso  39,279  San  Antonio  96,614 

Gateway  for  Mexican  trade.  Sherman   1^412 

Fort  Worth  73  312  Temple  10,993 

Galveston  36.981  Tyler   10.400 

Third  cotton  port.  ^^^^^  26,425 

Utah  (no  abbrev.)  373,351 

Third  state  for  silver,  lead,  asphalt,  4th  for  copper,  6th  for  gold.  7th 
for  zinc  and  for  gems. 

Ogden  25,580  *Salt  Lake  City  92,777 

Mormon  headquarters. 


156  COMMERCIAL  GEOGRAPHY 

Vermont  (Vt.)  355,956 

Leading  state  for  asbestos,  2nd  for  slate,  and  3rd  for  stone  in  general; 
manufacturing  marble  (12  mil.). 

Barre   10,734  *MontpeHer  7,856 

Burlington  20,468  Rutland  13,546 

Virginia  (Va.)  2,061,612 

Third   tobacco  state,   5th   for  coke,   6th   for  iron   ore,   and   for  mineral 
waters,  7th  for  pig  iron;  manufactures  tobacco  (25  mil.),  lumber  (36  mil.), 
flour  (18  mil.),  and  fertilizers.     First  in  oysters. 
Alexandria  15,329  Petersburg  24,127 

Danville   19,020  Portsmouth   33,190 

Lynchburg  29,494  *Richmond  127,628 

Newport  News  20,205  Roanoke  34,874 

Norfolk  67,452  Staunton   10,604 

Washington  (Wash.)  1,141,990 

Leads  in  manufacturing  lumber   (89   mil.);   5th  wheat  state. 
Aberdeen   13.660  Seattle  237,194 

Bellingham  24  298  Second  Pacific  port;  gateway  for 

Everett  24,814'  •  siota^ne  104  402 

North  Yakima  14,082  Tacoma  83,743 

*01ympia  6,996  ^-^j^^  ^^^^  19  3^4 

West  Virginia  (W.  Va.)  1,221,119 

Fourth  mineral  state  (106  mil.),  1st  for  natural  gas.  3rd  for  coal;  man- 
ufactures lumber  (29  mil.),  iron  and  steel  (22  mil.),  and  glass  (8  mil.). 

Bluefield  11  188  Martinsburg  10,698 

♦Charleston  22,996  Parkersburg    17,842 

Huntington  31,161  Wheeling  41,641 

Wisconsin  (Wise.)  2,333,860 

First  state  for  mineral  waters  and  for  rye,  2nd  dairying  state,  3rd  for 
lime,  4th  for  zinc,  5th  for  iron  ore  and  for  lead,  3rd  for  barley,  5th  for 
potatoes,  and  for  oats,  6th  for  tobacco;  manufactures  lumber  (58  mil.), 
leather  (50  mil.),  beer  (32  mil.),  meat  products  (27  mil.),  paper  (26  mil.), 
and  farm  machinery    (11   mil.). 

Appleton  16,773  Milwaukee  373,857 

AcVilanH    11  ^04.  Manufactures    leather    (27    mil.), 

c   1    •*.  Vc  IOC  and    beer     (19     mil.)— most    famous 

tseloit    ir),lZ5  breweries    in      the     United     States; 

Eau   Claire   18,310  noted    for    its    German   population; 

Fond   du   Lac   18,797  tenth    city    for    manufactures    (208 

?InZ■^^^''^^i^I^  Oshkosh  33.062 

janesviiie    l.3,«y^  Largest     match     factory     in     the 

Kenosha  21,371  United   States. 

La  Crosse  30,417  Racine  38,002 

♦Madison  25,531  Sheboygan  26.398 

Manitowoc    13,027  Superior  40.384 

Marinette    14,610  Wausau   16,560 

Wyoming  (Wyo.)  145,965 

Second  wool  state,  3rd  in  asbestos,   10th  in  coal. 
♦Cheyenne  11,320 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS  157 


APPENDIX  B 

A  Syllabus  of  Lectures  on 

The  Principles  gf  Success  in  Business 

Copyrisrbt,  1912.  by  Shenvln  Cody. 


AMERICAN  IDEALS  IN  BUSINESS 

Among  certaiu  classes  of  i^eople  there  is  an  idea  that  business 
is  a  matter  of  overreaching  the  other  fellow,  driving  a  sharp  bar- 
gain, growing  rich  at  the  exi>ense  of  the  helpless.  The  advertise- 
ment that  deceives  is  the  most  successful,  and  the  salesman  who 
gets  his  orders  by  hypnotism  is  the  really  clever  one.  "There  are 
letters  in  that  book  that  would  'sell  rotten  apples.' "  writes  an 
English  reviewer,  and  he  really  thought  that  selling  rotten  apples 
for  good  ones  was  the  true  business  ideal — that  is,  if  you  could 
'•put  it  over." 

It  is  true  that  patent-medicine  men  have  built  up  fortunes 
on  fraud,  and  publishers  have  grown  rich  (sometimes)  by  talking 
advantage  of  authors,  and  millionaires  have  ruined  the  homes  of 
widows  and  children  to  build  up  their  fortunes  through  "squeez- 
ing the  helpless  and  ignorant."  Such  instances  are  well  known, 
because  they  are  the  cases  that  are  advertised  in  the  newspapers, 
which  find  that  crime  is  news. 

The  thousands  and  millions  of  business  men  who  have  quiet 
and  happy  homes  and  carry  on  their  business  on  the  basis  of 
mutual  service  attract  no  attention  and  are  seldom  mentioned. 
It  is  they,  however,  and  they  alone,  who  have  built  up  American 
trade  until  it  stands  first  in  the  world.  All  the  deceit  and  clever 
hypnotic  shrewdness  in  the  world  never  advanced  a  nation  one 
iota.     America  has  grown  by  what  it  has  produced,  by  the  good 


158  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS 

it  has  done  the  world,  the  actufil  wealth  that  it  has  created.  The 
few  rogues  who  have  crushed  out  competitors,  deceived  ignorant 
buyers,  run  "corners"  on  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  accumulated 
fortunes  by  gambling,  so  getting  more  than  their  share  of  riches, 
have  not  added  a  single  dollar  to  the  total  of  American  wealth, 
but  probably  have  destroyed  millions.  And  the  fact  is,  few  of 
them  have  even  lived  to  enjoy  their  stolen  gains ;  they  have  died 
poor,  unhappy,  or  execrated  by  their  fellows.  When  the  present 
writer  was  struggling  in  New  York  one  big  business  manager 
ruthlessly  broke  a  contract — and  five  years  later  he  was  in  Sing 
Sing  at  hard  labor.  Another  was  arbitrary  and  unjust,  and  in 
the  end  he  fled  the  country,  a  self-confessed  embezzler,  to  stretch 
out  a  living  death  in  an  obscure  corner  of  Africa. 

The  ideal  of  the  American  business  man  is  personal  service. 
There  is  some  one  thing  that  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  all 
this  world  can  do  or  give  that  can  be  had  as  well  from  no  one 
else.  In  that  one  small  corner  he  has  or  can  have  a  monopoly. 
He  has  got  that  monopoly  by  concentrating  on  his  own  work  until 
in  that  one  particular  he  stands  unique  in  the  service  he  can 
render  his  fellows  about  him.  Getting  for  that  service  what  it 
is  worth  is  salesmanship;  but  there  can  be  no  true  salesmanship 
until  there  is  true  value  to  sell,  until  something  unique  has  been 
produced.  So  the  broad  philosophy  of  business  is  to  add  to  the 
world  something  it  has  never  had  before  in  equal  quality  and 
then  to  exchange  it  in  the  markets  for  the  unique  services 
performed  by  others,  which  will  tend  to  make  each  a  complete 
and  well-rounded  human  being,  enjoying  everything  that  anybody 
has  done. 

And  the  strange  thing  about  it  is  that  the  only  coin  that  is 
really  good  in  this  broad  exchange  is  unique  personal  service. 
The  rich  man's  son  may  inherit  his  millions  and  may  think  he 
can  go  out  and  buy  life,  but  it  escapes  him  every  time.  To  the 
American  business  man  the  one  great  joy  in  life  is  the  pleasure 
of  playing  the  game. 

The  great  game  of  war  as  our  forefathers  played  it,  the  game 
of  knight  errantry  in  the  middle  ages,  or  the  game  of  social 
success  as  played  by  the  aristocrats  of  Europe,  not  one  of  these 
is  more  exciting,  more  thoroughly  pleasurable,  and  certainly  not 
one  is  nobler  than  the  game  of  business  as  it  is  played  by  the 
American  man  of  business  who  knows  the  rules  and  obeys  them 
with  scrupulous  honor.  It  is  a  game  in  which  American  women 
have  a  part  that  has  never  been  told  and  in  which  more  and 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS  159 

more  girls  will  take  an  equal  part  with  boys,  though  the  American 
game  of  business  is  pre-eminently  a  man's  game. 

Every  one  of  j'ou  wants  to  know  how  to  play  that  game  suc- 
cessfully and  get  out  of  it  all  there  is  in  it  He  wants  to  know 
how  to  play  the  game  with  a  high  hand  and  not  go  groveling  and 
crawling  along  behind,  trying  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  the  real 
players. 

This  lecture  course  is  planned  for  the  express  purpose  of 
showing  boys  and  girls  how  to  play  the  American  game  of  busi- 
ness in  a  clean,  siK)rtsmanlike,  healthy  way — in  a  way  to  enjoy  it 
through  and  through,  and  in  a  way  to  be  better  when  we  come 
to  die  and  thank  God  we  were  iiermitted  to  live  such  a  life. 

Making  Oneself  Fit. 

When  an  athlete  sets  out  to  win  in  baseball,  football,  running, 
jumping,  or  any  other  athletic  contest  the  first  thing  he  tries  to 
do  is  to  "make  himself  fit" — to  get  a  clear  head  and  a  quick  eye, 
a  good  digestion  and  firm,  resilient  muscles. 

The  next  thing  is  to  find  a  scientific  trainer  who  knows  the 
points  of  the  game  through  long  and  repeated  personal  experi- 
ence and  who  will  teach  the  aspirant  day  by  day  until  he  gets 
the  necessary  skill. 

In  the  end,  however,  success  will  depend  far  more  on  personal 
fitness  than  on  technical  skill,  as  personal  fitness  is  so  much 
harder  to  acquire. 

One  of  the  most  successful  systems  of  business  training  is 
that  devised  by  Arthur  Frederick  Sheldon,  who  himself  has  been 
a  remarkable  personal  salesman.  There  have  been  other  good 
salesmen,  but  Mr.  Sheldon  was  the  first  to  formulate  the  principles 
of  successful  selling  into  a  science  that  could  be  taught  to  others. 
As  Professor  Walter  Dill  Scott  stands  as  the  chief  writer  on  "The 
Psychology  of  Display  Advertising;"  Frank  Gilbreth,  Harrington 
Emerson,  and  Dr.  Frederick  Winslow  Taylor  as  the  formulators 
of  the  principles  of  "Scientific  Shop  Management,"  and  Sherwin 
Cody  of  "Office  Salesmanship"  (the  psychology  of  using  words 
effectively),  so  Mr.  Sheldon  is  the  acknowledged  leader  in  the 
study  of  "Personality  in  Business"  (making  the  man  personally 
fit  and  then  teaching  him  the  art  of  success  as  a  salesman). 
Every  teacher  of  the  subject  ought  to  acknowledge  indebtedness 
to  the  pioneer  workers.  Success  in  giving  these  lectures  will 
depend  on  familiarity  with  the  teachings  of  the  pioneers,  but 
chiefly  with  Sheldon's  teachings  on  man-building. 


.160  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS 

LECTT  RE    I. 
Supervision. 

What  does  it  really  cost  to  get  out  one  letter? 

There  is  the  time  of  the  stenographer  who  takes  down  the 
letter  from  dictation  and  transcribes  it  on  the  typewriter. 

There  is  the  time  of  the  dictator. 

But  that  is  not  all.  There  is  the  time  required  to  look  the 
letter  over  after  it  is  written,  and  there  is  the  time  of  the  person 
who  looks  after  the  stenographer  to  see  that  she  gets  to  the  office 
at  the  right  time  in  the  morning,  that  she  has  just  the  right 
amount  of  work  supplied  to  keep  her  busy  all  day,  that  she  uses 
just  the  right  stationery,  that  she  makes  just  the  right  enclosures 
in  the  letter,  and,  lastly,  that  she  works  under  such  conditions  as 
to  accomplish  the  maximum  amount  of  work  in  a  day.  Looking 
over  the  letter  and  looking  after  the  stenographer  are  "super- 
vision" and  are  a  part  of  the  total  labor  needed  to  get  out  each 
letter. 

It  is  easy  to  figure  up  what  these  different  phases  of  the  work 
really  cost  in  any  particular  case.  For  example,  suppose  there 
are  five  dictators,  each  receiving  |25  a  week,  one  head  stenog- 
rapher receiving  also  $25  a  week,  and  ten  stenographers  each  re- 
ceiving $12  a  week.  Each  stenographer  averages  100  letters  a 
day,  each  dictator  dictating  200,  the  total  being  1,000  letters. 
These  figures  closely  correspond  to  the  actual  facts  in  a  certain 
large  mail-order  house  where  the  writer  was  once  connected. 
What  does  each  letter  cost? 

Suppose  the  stenographers  become  more  proficient,  so  that 
each  stenographer  can  write  20  letters  without  dictation,  or  all 
of  them  200  letters  a  day.  That  would  save  one  dictator,  whose 
salary  is  $25  a  week.  How  much  would  each  stenographer  then 
be  worth  if  the  cost  per  letter  remained  the  same? 

If  less  supervision  were  needed,  sc  that  the  head  stenographer 
could  do  the  work  of  one  regular  stenographer  and  also  supervise 
the  work  of  the  others,  what  would  each  stenographer  be  worth 
if  the  cost  per  letter  remained  the  same? 

Law:  The  efficiency  value  of  each  individual  varies  inversely 
with  the  cost  of  the  supervision  needed. 

LECTURE  IL 
Standards  of  Value  in  Service. 
The  value  of  service  varies  as  its  character  varies.    Of  course, 
the  best  office  boy  in  the  world  is  not  worth  as  much  as  any  good 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS  161 

stenographer,  nor  the  best  stenographer  as  much  as  any  good 
manager.  Any  manager  not  worth  more  than  a  good  stenog- 
rapher might  be  set  do\^Ti  as  a  complete  failure  as  a  manager. 

Thus  grades  of  service  are  established. 

Within  those  grades  efficiency  is  largely  proportioned  to  the 
amount  of  supervision  required,  until  100  per  cent  efficiency  indi- 
cates that  no  supervision  is  required.  Such  a  condition  is  never 
reached  by  anyone. 

The  manager  is  supervised  by  the  officers  of  the  corporation, 
the  officers  by  the  directors  as  a  body  or  by  each  other,  the 
directors  by  the  stockholders  and  by  the  public  and  by  the  laws 
of  nature.    Nature  alone  is  absolutely  efficient  without  supervision. 

What  happens  to  a  man  working  for  himself  as  a  farmer  if 
he  makes  mistakes?    To  a  retail  grocer?    To  a  trust  magnate? 

Compare  also  the  most  successful  retail  grocer  with  a  suc- 
cessful wholesaler  as  to  personal  business  value;  the  banker  in 
a  small  town  with  the  banker  in  a  large  city.  The  services  of  no 
man  can  be  of  greater  value  than  his  opportunity,  and  yet  the 
higher  opportunity  follows  naturally  the  attainment  of  maximum 
efficiency  within  the  grade  in  which  the  individual  is  at  work. 

LECTURE   III. 

Four  Grades  of  Efficiency  Among  Stenographers. 

Stenographers  may  be  classified  into  four  grades,  according 
to  their  efficiency: 

1.  Stenographers  who  are  slow  and  make  mistakes,  so  they 
require  constant  supervision. 

2.  Stenographers  who  are  quick  and  accurate,  yet  cannot 
write  letters  for  themselves. 

3.  Stenographers  who  can  put  letters  into  good  language 
when  told  in  a  general  way  briefly  what  to  say. 

4.  Stenographers  who  c"au  get  out  all  routine  letters  without 
even  consulting  the  manager. 

The  first  is  a  beginner,  and  all  must  at  one  time  or  another 
be  beginners.  T'nfortuuately,  some  never  get  any  higher — they 
are  chronic  beginners. 

The  second  is  an  efficient  stenographer,  but  not  yet  even  a 
beginner  as  a  private  secretary. 

The  third  is  a  beginner  as  a  private  secretary. 

The  fourth  has  become  an  efficient  private  secretary  through 
having  learned  the  particular  business  with  which   she  is  con- 


162  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS 

nected  and  is  ready  to  be  promoted  to  the  next  grade,  that  of 
assistant  manager. 

What  four  grades  of  booklveepers  are  there,  and  how  do  per- 
sons advance  from  one  grade  to  another? 

LECTURE   IV. 
Grades  of  Efficiency  Among  Salesmen. 
The  "Order-Taker"   gives  the  customer  what  he  insists  ov 
having. 

The  Efficient  Salesman  helps  the  customer  to  find  out  what 
will  serve  him  best. 

Illustrate  the  difference  between  an  ''order-taker"  and  ai« 
"efficient  salesman"  in  a  retail  grocery. 

LECTURE  V. 
Degrees  of  Efficiency  in  Supervision. 

Perhaps  the  best  analysis  of  what  efficient  supervision  is  ma? 
be  found  in  Dr.  Frederick  Winslow  Taylor's  "Principles  of  Scien- 
tific Management,"  which  he  illustrates  on  pages  40  to  47  by 
describing  how  a  pig-iron  handler  was  enabled  by  proper  super- 
vision to  load  47^2  tons  of  pig  iron  on  a  freight  car  In  one  day 
instead  of  the  average  of  12 14  tons  in  a  day  which  good  laborers 
attained  without  the  new  scientific  supervision. 

First,  the  manager  or  supervisor  found  out  the  "science  or 
handling  pig  iron"  with  the  smallest  waste  of  energy. 

Then  he  found  out  how  to  measure  the  amount  of  work  a 
good  laborer  could  do  in  a  day  under  the  most  favorable  circum- 
stances. 

He  studied  how  fast  a  man  should  work,  how  often  he  should 
rest;  and  what  attitude  of  mind  he  should  be  in.  He  also  studied 
the  problem  of  how  to  produce  the  right  attitude  of  mind. 

He  eliminated  those  who  were  not  fitted  to  do  a  full  day*s 
work  at  handling  pig  iron,  placing  them  in  other  departments 
where  their  natural  abilities  were  employed  to  better  advantage 

None  of  these  things  could  the  workman  do  for  himself,  how- 
ever naturally  efficient,  because  he  was  in  ttie  class  of  workmen 
and  not  in  the  class  of  managers. 

If  the  workman  who  loaded  12%  tons  of  pig  iron  a  day  was 
worth  $1.15  a  day,  how  much  was  the  manager  worth  who  super- 
vised 75  pig-iron  handlers  and  enabled  them  to  load  47%  tons  a 
day? 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS  163 

But  to  get  them  to  do  the  increased  work  he  had  to  pay  them 
$1.85,  and  the  difference  should  be  deducted  from  his  value.  Make 
another  estimate  of  his  value. 

The  general  manager  who  discovered  the  fact  that  there  was 
a  science  of  handling  pig  iron  was  entitled  to  some  of  the  increased 
value;  but  his  idea  was  distributed  among  100  gangs  of  75  men 
each,  and  this  was  only  one  idea  of  over  100  which  he  discovered. 
Could  he  accumulate  a  fortune  of  a  million  dollars  as  honestly  as 
a  laborer  could  earn  $1.85  a  day? 

LECTI  RE  VI. 
Wasted  Supervision. 

Supervision  is  really  in  part  education.  After  the  supervisor 
of  the  pig-iron  handler  taught  one  man  to  follow  the  rules  of  the 
science  of  Jiandling  pig  iron  he  could  teach  another,  merely  giving 
a  little  time  to  watch  the  first  man.  Then  he  would  add  another 
and  another,  until  he  was  supervising  75  men  whom  he  had  taught 
one  at  a  time. 

But  with  the  increased  efficiency  only  25  men  would  do  all 
the  work  there  was  to  be  done  at  that  place,  and  the  other  50 
would  be  out  of  jobs.  The  supervisor  after  he  had  taught  all  the 
men  so  they  could  get  along  with  little  watching  might  find  some 
one  who  couldn't  teach  the  science  at  all,  but  could  watch  those 
who  already  had  learned  it,  who  would  take  his  place.  Then  he, 
too,  would  be  out  of  a  job  as  well  as  the  50  men. 

That  supervisor  might  say,  "I  will  pretend  that  these  men 
can't  do  the  work  without  me,  that  I  exercise  some  occult  power 
over  them,  so  I  shall  keep  my  job."  So  he  continues  to  supervise 
though  h's  supervision  is  not  needed.  What  would  you  say  of 
such  a  supervisor?  Would  you  not  say  he  was  throwing  away  an 
opportunity  to  be  promoted  from  his  position  as  supervisor  to  a 
position  as  teacher  of  supervisors  at  greatly  increased  salary? 

What,  then,  would  you  say  of  the  workmen  who  pass  rules 
limiting  the  amount  of  work  they  will  do  in  a  day  so  other  work- 
men will  not  be  thrown  out  of  employment?  If  the  efficient  work- 
men become  so  effective,  would  they  not  be  promoted  to  a  higher 
grade  and  so  leave  their  positions  still  to  be  filled  by  the  workmen 
they  thought  would  be  thrown  out  of  positions? 

The  world  is  full  of  difficult  tasks  to  be  performed,  with  very 
few  to  perform  them,  and  the  more  the  efficient  workers  mount 
into  the  higher  ranks  which  are  empty  the  more  room  there  will 


164  TFIE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS 

be  for  the  laborers  below,  and  the  more  big  tasks  that  are  under- 
taken the  more  need  there  will  be  for  all  grades  of  workers. 

LECTURE   VII. 
How  Workers  May  Buy  Supervision  for  Their  Own  Benefit. 

In  the  case  of  the  pig-iron  handler,  if  he  had  been  able  to  go 
to  the  management  and  say,  "I  have  learned  how  to  handle  47^ 
tons  of  iron  in  a  day  instead  of  12 1/^ ;  will  you  pay  me  8  cents  a 
ton  instead  of  $1.15  a  day?"  he  probably  would  have  been  taken 
up  on  his  offer  and  he  would  have  been  earning  nearly  $4  a  day 
instead  of  $1.85  a  day,  as  he  did  when  the  management  taught 
him.  He  could  not  have  invented  the  science  of  handling  pig  iron, 
but  undoubtedly  he  could  have  gone  to  a  teacher  of  the  science, 
had  there  been  one  available,  and  by  paying  him  $100  to  teach 
him  the  science  he  would  have  increased  his  earning  power  per- 
haps $750  a  year.  That  is  interest  on  $7,500  at  10  per  cent.  So 
$100  invested  in  education,  plus  the  initiative  necessary  to  go  after 
the  education,  would  have  been  as  good  as  a  personal  capital  stock 
of  $7,500.  How  much  is  the  initiative  to  go  after  the  education 
actually  worth  in  that  case?  What  will  the  education  you  are 
getting  here  be  worth  to  you? 

LECTURE  VIIL 
Who  Pays  for  Supervision? 

Mr.  Sheldon  tells  of  a  young  woman  in  a  Pittsburgh  retail 
store  where  most  of  the  saleswomen  were  getting  $5  to  $8  a  week. 
She  kept  track  of  every  customer  who  came  to  her  counter, 
notified  them  by  postal  card  or  telephone  every  time  there  was  a 
special  sale  in  which  they  would  be  likely  to  be  interested  or  there 
were  any  "bargains"  they  would  wish  to  take  advantage  of. 

Her  efficient  service  to  customers  was  so  valuable  to  the  firm 
that  she  was  finally  getting  $3,000  a  year.  She  was  her  own 
supervisor;  she  did  not  need  supervision  paid  for  by  the  firm. 

Who  really  was  paying  for  the  supervision  of  the  girls  who 
got  only  $250  to  $400  a  year? 

LECTURE  IX. 
The  Saving  of  Wasted  Motion. 
Frank  Gilbreth.  in  his  book  on  "Motion  Study,"  tells  how  a 
stranger  passed  him  on  the  street  one  day  when  he  was  laying 
bricks  and  told  him  he  was  wasting  a  great  many  motions. 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS  165 

Each  time  he  wanted  a  brick  he  stooped  over  and  picked  it 
up  from  the  floor,  and  so  with  each  brick  he  was  lifting  tf  3 
weight  of  his  heavy  body  over  and  over  again,  which  he  won  d 
not  have  to  do  if  the  bricks  were  on  a  level  with  his  hand. 

Then  the  bricks  were  all  mixed  up  in  a  pile  and  he  had  to  toss 
each  one  up  in  the  air  two  or  three  times  to  see  which  was  the 
best  side  to  place  outward.  This  might  have  been  saved  had  a 
cheap  boy  placed  all  the  bricks  in  a  row  with  the  good  side  out- 
ward, so  saving  the  time  of  the  high-priced  bricklayer. 

Where  he  was  taking  out  on  his  trowel  each  time  enough 
mortar  to  lay  one  brick  he  found  if  he  had  a  deeper  mortar  box 
he  could  take  out  enough  to  lay  several  and  spread  this  mortar 
for  several  bricks  at  one  movement  of  the  hand  instead  of  with 
one  movement  for  each  brick  as  before. 

In  all  he  reduced  the  motions  necessary  from  18  to  3  in  many 
cases,  or  6  at  the  most. 

What  was  the  value  of  this  discovery  to  the  entire  bricklaying 
Industry?  Is  the  entire  bricklaying  industry  to-day  saving  these 
12  or  15  wasted  motions?    If  not,  why  not? 

What  is  a  saver  of  wasted  motions  worth  in  any  business? 

LECTURE  X. 
Distinction  Between  Supervision  and  Direction. 

In  our  study  so  far  we  have  found  that  two  elements  enter 
into  the  work  of  the  manager — that  of  discovering  and  teaching 
a  pew  science  of  work,  and  that  of  watching  employees  after  they 
have  been  taught  this  science. 

If  there  is  a  scienre  of  handling  pig  iron  and  a  science  of 
laying  brick,  there  are  thousands  of  other  sciences  in  business, 
and  to  develop  these  sciences  and  teach  them  to  employees  is  the 
proper  work  of  managers. 

Supervision,  properly  speaking,  is  watching  employees  after 
they  have  learned  the  new  science  to  see  that  they  do  not  make 
errors.  To  perform  the  work  in  the  grade  of  employment  in  which 
one  finds  one's  self  at  maximum  speed  without  errors  is  100  per 
cent  efficiency. 

The  best  of  us  make  some  errors,  so  no  one  ever  really 
attains  100  per  cent  efficiency,  however  near  we  may  approach  to 
perfection.  Lindley  Murray,  the  great  writer  on  English  grammar, 
had  half  a  dozen  glaring  violations  of  his  own  rules  in  the  nine- 
teenth edition  of  his  book,  and  no  doubt  his  attention  had  been 
called  to  many  others  in  his  earlier  editions  which  he  had  cor- 


166  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS 

rected.  In  this  case,  the  general  public  was  his  supervisor.  What 
are  the  errors  of  the  office  boy,  the  stenographer,  the  bookkeeper, 
the  salesman,  the  office  manager,  which  ought  to  be  eliminated? 
The  first  step  toward  improvement  is  to  make  an  inventory  of  our 
known  errors  so  we  can  go  systematically  about  eliminating  them. 
Prof.  Wm.  James  has  said  that  careful  investigation  has  proved 
that  the  average  man  does  not  use  over  10  per  cent  of  his  brain 
cells.    Are  you  letting  90  per  cent  of  your  brain  cells  go  to  waste? 

LECTUKE  XI. 
Errors  of  the  Teacher. 

As  it  is  easier  to  see  faults  in  others  than  in  ourselves,  let 
us  begin  with  the  teacher. 

The  teacher  makes  an  error  if  he  works  his  pupils  too  hard. 
The  brain  becomes  dulled  and  fails  to  remember,  and  the  harder 
the  teacher  tries  to  make  the  pupil  learn  the  less  is  actually 
accomplishd. 

Perhaps  the  error  in  that  case  is  in  keeping  the  pupil's  mind 
too  long  on  one  point  without  variety  or  change.  Systematic  study 
and  rest  gives  the  best  results,  and  the  manager  in  the  office  must 
see  that  his  employees  get  variety.  If  they  are  working  on  one 
small  ©peration  he  should  make  them  stop  and  rest  at  regular 
intervals,  even  if  they  would  like  to  keep  right  on,  for  he  knows 
they  will  accomplish  more  during  the  day  if  they  work  half  an 
hour  and  then  rest  five  minutes  thar  if  they  work  three  or  four 
hours  without  rest. 

The  teacher  who  worries  his  pupils  makes  an  error,  for  the 
worry  causes  the  formation  of  poisons  in  the  brain,  which  weaken 
efficiency. 

The  teacher  makes  an  error  if  he  does  not  show  them  point 
by  point  how  to  learn  their  lessons,  but  merely  punishes  them  if 
they  fail.  The  manager  of  an  office  makes  an  error  if  he  merely 
tells  an  assistant  what  he  wants  done  without  finding  out  if  the 
work  is  understood;  and  then  discharges  the  employee  when  he 
finds  the  work  not  done.  He  must  make  sure  his  instructions  are 
fully  understood. 

The  teacher  makes  an  error  if  he  goes  on  teaching  pupils 
what  they  know  already.  The  manager  makes  a  similar  error 
if  he  keeps  on  watching  his  employees  all  the  time,  even  when 
they  have  become  quite  capable  of  getting  along  just  as  well  with- 
out watching.  He  not  only  wastes  his  time,  but  prevents  the 
employees  from  developing  their  powers.    The  teacher  must  give 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS  167 

pupils  new  work  just  as  fast  as  they  are  capable  of  handling  it 
or  they  will  make  less  progress  than  they  should. 

lecturp:  XII. 

Errors  in  the  Office. 
Errors  are  of  two  kinds — errors  of  omission  and  errors  of  com- 
mission. It  is  much  easier  to  eliminate  all  errors  of  commission, 
real  mistakes  that  can  be  pointed  out,  than  to  eliminate  all  errors 
of  omission — that  is,  to  do  everything  that  ought  to  be  done. 
These  are  the  negative  and  the  positive  sides  of  the  subject.  The 
positives  (doing  all  the  things  you  ought  to  do)  are  much  more 
important  than  the  negatives  (eliminating  actual  faults). 

The  private  secretary  of  Pillsbury,  the  great  flour  manufac- 
turer, once  said  to  the  writer  of  this,  "Hardly  a  day  passes  that 
I  do  not  make  a  mistake  that  costs  the  company  at  least  $5,000. 
What  I  try  to  do  is  to  avoid  making  errors  that  cost  the  company 
$100,000  to  $150,000.  A  few  errors  like  that  will  make  a  big  hole 
in  the  dividends." 

For  example :  A  stenographer  in  a  hurry  to  get  home  omitted 
the  street  number  in  addressing  the  envelope  that  was  to  carry  a 
bid  for  a  big  public  contract.  The  bid  was  delayed  a  few  hours 
and  the  contract  was  lost — a  little  hurried  carelessness  on  the 
part  of  one  stenographer  cost  the  firm  $100,000. 

The  blame  is  not  all  hers,  however,  for  the  manager  should 
have  noticed  the  omission.  Perhaps  he  should  have  taken  no 
chances  of  delay  in  the  mail  by  sending  a  messenger  with  so  im- 
portant a  paper. 

A  bookkeeper  charged  with  keeping  a  record  of  an  advertising 
test  made  preparatory  to  a  big  campaign  made  a  mistake  of  one 
figure,  representing  one  dollar.  The  test  showed  a  profit  of  80 
cents  instead  of  a  loss  of  20  cents.  On  a  $100,000  expenditure  this 
meant  a  loss  of  $20,000  instead  of  a  profit  of  $80,000  in  the  par- 
ticular case  in  question. 

But  what  of  the  error  of  the  manager  who  put  out  so  large  a 
campaign  after  so  slight  a  test? 

LECTURE  XIII. 
Errors  of  Salesmanship. 
Mr.  Sheldon  tells  the  story  of  the  errors  of  a  veteran  salesman, 
who  for  years  had  been  selling  for  a  wholesale  grocery  house,  and 
showing  a  large  volume  of  sales. 

An  expert  was  called  in  to  analyze  his  sales,  and  found  he 


168  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS 

was  selling  large  amounts  of  staples  such  as  sugar,  on  which  there 
was  a  small  margin  of  profit,  working  a  few  large  buyers.  The 
actual  profit  he  was  making  for  the  house  was  therefore  com- 
paratively small — smaller  than  the  good  salary  he  was  receiving. 

He  should  have  called  on  many  small  buyers,  and  pushed  the 
specialties  of  the  house  on  which  there  was  a  large  profit. 

When  this  was  called  to  his  attention  he  rebelled,  saying  he 
had  been  with  the  house  longer  than  the  sales  manager  and  knew 
how  to  sell  groceries  without  having  any  one  teach  him.  He  lost 
his  position  because  of  this  second  error. 

A  young  salesman  came  in  and  pushed  the  specialties  with  the 
small  buyers  as  well  as  the  large  ones,  and  showed  a  larger  total 
of  sales,  as  well  as  a  much  larger  margin  of  profit  for  the  house. 

A  retail  salesman  took  an  order  for  a  wedding  present  to  be 
sent  to  a  prospective  bridegroom  but  to  be  charged  to  the  person 
who  gave  the  order.  The  salesman  in  the  store  made  a  mistake 
and  charged  it  to  the  bridegroom  to  whom  it  was  sent.  Imagine 
the  surprise  of  that  person  when  he  received  a  large  bill  for  some- 
thing he  had  not  ordered  and  knew  nothing  about !  What  do  you 
think  happened  to  that  salesman  when  the  charge  customer  re- 
ported what  had  been  done? 

LECTURE  XIV. 
How  to  Reduce  Errors. 

Supervision  is  the  established  system  for  reducing  errors.  A 
manager  goes  over  all  the  work  to  catch  the  errors  and  correct 
them  before  they  have  done  any  harm. 

The  truth  is,  most  persons  can  largely  supervise  themselves  if 
they  will  make  the  effort  systematically  enough.  The  time  of  the 
employee  is  less  valuable  than  the  time  of  the  manager,  and  it  is  a 
mistake  to  let  the  responsibility  for  correcting  errors  all  go  over  on 
to  the  manager  or  supervisor. 

Many  stenographers  who  know  they  do  fairly  good  work  never 
glance  over  their  letters ;  but  if  they  formed  the  habit  of  carefully 
checking  each  letter  before  the  manager  is  allowed  to  see  it,  they 
would  find  they  were  catching  most  of  the  errors  themselves. 
Every  address  especially  should  be  compared  word  for  word  with 
the  original.  The  habit  of  checking  so  that  nothing  is  ever  passed 
without  systematic  verification  would  be  worth  a  very  great  deal  to 
every  stenographer. 

It  is  easy  for  the  bookkeeper  to  copy  off  the  items  of  an 
invoice :  but  if  he  does  not  have  the  fixed  habit  of  going  over  the 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS  169 

items  again  and  checking  them  he  is  sure  to  let  a  certain  propor- 
tion of  errors  slip  through. 

Errors  that  waste  time  may  often  be  saved  by  planning  your 
work  in  advance.  A  salesman  has  ten  calls  to  make,  and  if  he  will 
lay  out  his  route  so  he  can  make  those  ten  calls  on  the  shortest 
possible  line,  without  doubling  back,  he  will  save  time  that  he  now 
wastes  because  he  is  too  lazy  to  sit  down  and  write  out  his 
itinerary  before  he  starts  instead  of  trying  to  carry  it  roughly  in 
his  head. 

If  you  work  under  a  manager,  fix  firmly  in  your  mind  the  idea 
that  you  are  going  to  be  your  own  manager  so  as  to  eliminate  the 
actual  manager  as  quickly  and  as  completely  as  possible.  Think 
constantly  of  what  he  would  say  about  this,  and  that,  and  the 
other,  and  you  will  be  surprised  to  find  how  soon  you  are  getting 
along  without  him.  You  probably  have  a  bad  habit  of  leaning  on 
him — just  simply  leaning  in  a  lazy  way — and  it  is  time  you  broke 
up  that  habit. 

Go  systematically  about  forming  the  habit  of  mental  double 
checking. 

LECTURE   XV. 
Success  Requires  Positive  Personal  Qualities. 

"If  I  could  only  get  rid  of  all  my  errors,  I  should  be  perfect," 
has  been  the  thought  of  many  a  struggler  since  the  beginning  of 
modern  civilization.  "If  I  can  only  rid  him  of  all  his  mistakes,  I 
shall  have  an  ideal  pupil,"  says  the  teacher,  and  most  teachers 
devote  most  of  their  time  to  removing  imperfections. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  concentrating  the  mind  on  removing  errors 
never  has  produced  success  and  never  will.  It  tends  to  fix  the 
person  forever  in  the  grade  in  which  he  already  is.  The  stenog- 
rapher becomes  so  perfect  a  stenographer  he  or  she  can  never  be 
anything  else — "faultily  faultless"  as  the  poet  expresses  it. 

Once  in  a  large  competition  for  prizes  in  story  writing 
offered  to  Chicago  school  children  certain  schools  turned  in 
hundreds  of  stories  written  in  a  copperplate  Spencerian  hand, 
without  an  error  of  grammar  or  an  error  of  punctuation.  Among 
these,  however,  one  was  written  in  a  very  irregular  hand,  many 
words  were  misspelled,  and  the  punctuation  was  not  of  the  best. 
But  that  story  had  positive  ideas  in  it,  its  writer  had  developed 
very  positive  qualities.  That  was  the  only  story  that  was  even 
considered,  and  it  finally  won  a  prize,  not  because  of  the  poor 
bandwriting  or  the  misspelling  of  the  words,  but  in  spite  of  them. 


170  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS 

A  few  positive  good  qualities  will  easily  outweigh  many  minor 
imperfections. 

In  any  case,  the  best  way  to  correct  errors  is  to  develop  the 
qualities  for  the  lack  of  which  the  errors  come.  One  may  learn 
all  the  rules  of  grammar  and  rhetoric,  and  yet  make  hundreds 
of  mistakes  that  would  not  be  made  at  all  by  a  person  who 
forms  the  habit  of  thinking  clearly.  The  possible  number  of 
errors  is  so  enormous  that  while  you  are  correcting  one  you  are 
unconsciously  making  three  more.  But  the  clear  and  careful 
thinker  has  little  occasion  to  correct  errors. 

LECTURE   XVI. 
Health — the  Most  Important  Positive  Quality  in  Business 

Without  health  and  strength  there  is  no  chance  for  success 
in  business  whatever.  Business  means  work — very  steady,  often 
grinding  work,  day  in  and  day  out,  week  after  week.  Unless  you 
can  stand  that  grind  you  cannot  even  hold  a  minor  position. 

The  degree  of  success  is  in  direct  ratio  to  physical  endurance. 
Napoleon  could  work  from  eighteen  to  twenty  hours  a  day  and 
sleep  four  or  five  hours.  Lincoln  could  bear  the  strain  and 
worry  of  a  distracted  nation  for  years  without  breaking  down  or 
even  wavering  physically.  Great  business  men  have  invariably 
had  great  endurance. 

We  often  think  health  is  a  gift  of  nature,  an  inheritance. 
Almost  without  exception  it  is  within  our  own  power  to  control. 
The  great  medica'  profession  has  developed  a  science  of  preserv- 
ing health.    The  essentials  are  considered  to  be  the  following: 

Neither  too  much  nor  too  little,  but  just  the  right  amount  of 
well  selected  and  well  cooked  food  taken  three  times  a  day. 

The  proper  amount  of  sleep — usually  eight  hours  a  day, 
though  some  need  more  and  some  need  less. 

Proper  attention  to  recreation  and  pleasure.  Those  who  try 
to  get  along  without  it  seriously  reduce  their  capacity  to  work. 

Fresh  Air.  It  is  best  to  sleep  out  of  doors  all  the  year 
round,  or  at  any  rate  with  one  or  more  large  windows  wide  open. 
We  should  work  in  pure  air  that  is  constantly  moving  through 
the  room,  being  careful  always  to  keep  quite  warm,  though  con- 
stantly hardening  ourselves  to  resist  cold,  as  by  taking  a  cool 
sponge  bath  every  morning.  It  is  best  to  sleep  in  a  room  below 
55°  Fahr.,  and  living  rooms  should  have  a  humidity  above  40°. 

Systematically  getting  the  right  amount  of  exercise  every 
day  all  the  year  round. 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS  171 

Those  who  get  the  right  food,  sleep,  fresh  air,  and  exercise 
cannot  possibly  overwork. 

LECTURE   XVII. 

The  Right  Food  for  an  Office  Worker. 
(Dr.  W.  A.  Evans.) 

Appetite  is  our  best  guide,  and  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  try 
to  follow  a  scientific  diet  unless  told  to  do  so  by  a  physician. 
Most  of  us  probably  are  about  right,  but  some  of  us  are  deeply 
imbedded  in  wrong  habits.  Let  us  check  over  our  diet  by  the 
following  rough  table  to  see  where  we  stand.  Office  workers 
need  on  the  average  about  2,500  calories  of  heat  and  800  grains 
of  protein.  Foods  not  found  in  the  following  list  may  be  counted 
as  the  same  as  the  nearest  kind  in  the  list.  A  light  breakfast, 
about  the  same  lunch,  aud  a  good  dinner  at  night  is  usually  best 
for  office  workers  who  can  rest  in  the  evening. 

Carefully  add  up  your  food  to  see  whether  you  are  eating  too 
much  or  too  little. 

To  fill  in  the  gap  between  the  scientific  and  the  everyday, 
Arnold  of  Boston  has  devised  some  diet  tables  based  on  Atwater 
and  Bryant's  bulletin  48  (Department  of  Agriculture),  containing 
handy  information  such  as  the  following: 

Gr.  pro- 
Breakfast.  Calories.      tein. 

Bread,    1   ounce 80  45 

Cereal,  4  tablespoonf uls 135  60 

Potato,  2  ounces 80  30 

Rice,  4  tablespoonf  uls 240  60 

Milk,    7    ounces 140  120 

Buttermilk,  8  ounces 100  112 

Meat,    5   ounces 400  600 

Grapefruit,   20   ounces 100 

Sugar.  180  grains 50 

Cream,  1  tablespoonf ul,  18  per  cent 27  6 

Egg,   one    80  120 

Bacon,    Vo   ounce 90  22 

The  lean  part  of  a  lamb  chop  weighs  one  ounce;  a  thin  slice 
of  beef,  one  ounce ;  one  cubic  inch  of  meat,  one  ounce. 

Meat  loses  25  per  cent  in  weight  in  cooking.  It  loses  less 
than  5  per  cent  in  nutrition  units,  since  that  which  goes  off  in 
cooking  is  water,  some  aromatics,  and  some  fat. 

Coffee  has  so  little  food  value  that  it  can  be  omitted. 


172  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS 

Dinner. 

One  portion  of  soup- 
Soup,  one  pint,  equals  200  calories  and  180  grains  protein. 
Chowder,  one  pint,  equals  360  calories  and  480  grains  protein. 

Fish,  game,  chicken,  beef,  turkey,  lamb,  goose,  lean  ham — Ordi- 
nary helping,  about  one-quarter  pound,  equals  125  to  250 
calories,  according  to  how  much  fat  it  contains,  and  300 
grains  protein. 

Butter — One  pat,  one-third  ounce,  equals  80  calories;  practically 
no  protein. 

Butter  beans — One-quarter  pound  equals  IGO  calories  and  150 
grains  protein. 

Green  corn — Four  ounces  equals  100  calories  and  45  grains  protein. 

Green  peas — Four  ounces  equals  100  calories  and  105  grains 
protein. 

Turnips — Four  ounces  equals  50  calories  and  30  grains  protein. 

Fodder  vegetables  and  their  juices,  having  but  little  food  value, 
are  asparagus,  string  beans,  brussels  sprouts,  cabbage,  cauli- 
flower, celery,  cucumbers,  greens,  spinach,  lettuce,  pumpkin, 
radish,  rhubarb,  tomatoes. 

Apples — One-quarter  pound  equals  60  calories. 

Raisins — One-quarter  pound  equals  350  calories. 

Figs  and  prunes — One-quarter  pound  equals  80  calories. 

Pineapple — One-quarter  pound  equals  40  calories. 

Almonds — One-quarter  pound  equals  650  calories  and  300  grainy 
protein. 

Pecans — One-quarter  pound  equals  750  calories  and  150  grains 
protein. 

Bread  or  rice  pudding — One-quarter  pound  equals  175  calories 
and  60  grains  protein. 

Custard — Large  cupful  (8  ounces)  equals  240  calories  and  180 
grains  protein. 

Cake — Large  slice  (one  ounce)  equals  85  calories  and  20  grains 
protein. 

LECTURE  XVIIL 
The  Correct  Theory  of  Exercise. 
Few  office   workers  get  sufficient  exercise,   especially   when 
the  weather  is  bad.     It  is  largely  because  they  do  not  follow  a 
scintific  system. 

Exercise  should  never  tire  so  as  to  cause  excessive  muscular 
waste.     Its  object  is  to  get  the  blood  to  circulate  freely  in  all 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS  173 

parts  of  the  body  and  so  throw  off  impurities  instead  of  allowing 
them  to  accumulate  and  clog  the  system,  especially  the  brain.  It 
also  keeps  the  muscles  in  tone,  ready  for  vigorous  reaction. 

We  may  walk  five  miles,  and  yet  not  exercise  the  arms,  back, 
or  shoulders  very  much.  The  leg  muscles  get  too  much  exercise. 
The  same  is  true  of  most  games — they  exercise  some  muscles  too 
much  so  waste  is  produced,  and  other  muscles  not  enough  or  not 
at  all.  It  is  said  that  a  scientific  series  of  exercises  that  takes 
one  set  of  muscles  after  another  and  gives  them  half  a  minute 
each  with  a  brief  rest  between  each  movement,  in  all  fifteen  or 
twenty  minutes  divided  between  about  thirty-five  different  sets  of 
muscles,  will  do  more  good  than  playing  golf  all  day  or  walking 
for  several  hours.  The  writer  has  found  that  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes  each  morning  given  to  these  scientific  movements  with- 
out apparatus  of  any  kind  except  a  couch  and  a  chair  has  com- 
pletely overcome  a  tendency  to  catch  colds  that  had  yielded  to 
no  other  form  of  treatment,  and  made  possible  the  most  intense 
and  continuous  mental  work  with  an  increase  of  health  instead 
of  growing  lassitude.  We  recommend  as  a  good  book  Mfiller's  ''My 
System — 15  Minutes'  Work  a  Day  for  Health's  Sake." 

LECTURE  XIX. 
Cleanliness  and  Germs. 

It  has  now  been  pretty  well  proved  that  many  diseases  are 
caused  by  harmful  germs.  The  germs  of  colds,  pneumonia, 
and  consumption  are  well  known,  and  so  are  the  germs  of  intesti- 
nal diseases. 

These  germs  feed  on  filth,  and  the  only  good  way  to  fight 
them  is  to  keep  clean. 

Bad  air  is  filthy  air,  and  that  usually  means  germ-laden  air. 

Bad  food  is  usually  well  supplied  with  germs  whether  we 
can  see  them  or  not,  and  they  breed  in  the  intestines.  Absolutely 
clean  cooking  will  cure  almost  any  case  of  indigestion. 

Acid-forming  germs  feeding  on  decayed  food  in  the  mouth  rot 
the  teeth. 

Dirty  skins  cause  pimples  and  blackheads. 

Cleanliness  requires  that  we  scour  the  pots  and  pans  every 
time  they  are  used — that  we  wash  the  body  thoroughly  at  least 
once  a  day — that  we  wash  the  mouth  and  teeth  with  some  filth 
destroyer  like  peroxide  of  hydrogen — that  we  wash  the  inside  of 
the  body  by  drinking  plenty  of  pure  water. 


174  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS 

LECTURE  XX. 
Reliability  the  First  Great  Requirement  in    Business. 

Ask  any  business  man  what  the  first  great  qualification  for 
an  employee  is  and  he  will  invariably  tell  you,  "Reliability." 
You  may  be  as  smart  as  the  devil,  but  the  wise  business  man 
will  not  be  tempted  by  that  smartness. 

Business  men  will  probably  pay  more  in  salary  for  reliability 
than  for  any  other  single  quality.  This  applies  to  office  boys  and 
clerks  quite  as  much  as  to  bank  cashiers. 

What  is  reliability? 

The  person  who  makes  an  appointment  and  is  ten  minutes 
late  is  not  reliable.  The  person  who  is  ten  minutes  too  early  is 
not  strong  mentally.  The  person  who  is  always  right  on  the  dot 
will  soon  make  an  unshakable  reputation. 

The  person  who  stays  at  home  sick  without  giving  notice  is 
not  reliable.  If  he  or  she  has  typhoid  fever,  pneumonia,  or 
apoplexy  it  will  probably  be  necessary  to  stay  at  home ;  but  even 
in  that  case  it  is  always  possible  to  send  word  promptly.  In  all 
other  cases  the  reliable  person  is  on  his  job  till  the  manager  tells 
him  he  had  better  go  home. 

The  reliable  person  always  gets  his  work  out  even  if  he  stays 
till  midnight. 

The  reliable  person  always  goes  to  the  manager  and  tells 
him  if  he  is  unable  to  do  any  given  work — doesn't  just  let  it  slip 
and  hope  nobody  will  find  it  out. 

Reliability  is  moral  endurance,  t^^pified  by  the  rock  of 
Gibraltar.  The  person  who  has  a  genius  for  moral  endurance' is 
likely  to  get  a  big  salary  almost  for  that  alone. 

Another  word  for  it  is  thoroughness. 

LECTURE   XXL 
Second  Requirement  in  Business  a  Pleasing  Personality. 

A  person  may  be  born  with  good  looks,  and  if  born  without 
them  cannot  get  them,  but  they  are  only  a  minor  element  of  a 
pleasing  personality. 

In  the  eyes  of  a  business  man  cleanliness  and  neatness  are 
the  first  marks  of  a  pleasing  personality,  and  all  may  have  these. 

A  cheerful  disposition  is  the  second  mark  of  a  pleasing  per- 
sonality, and  that  usually  is  the  result  of  cultivating  an  unselfish 
eagerness  to  help  others.  Selfishness  and  whining  go  together, 
and  these  make  wrinkles  in  the  face  and  worry  in  the  eyes. 

Being  a  "good  mixer"  is  indispensable  to  lawyer  or  doctor. 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS  175 

LECTURE  XXII. 
How  to  Develop  a  Pleasing  Personality 

There  is  just  one  way  to  develop  a  pleasing  personality,  and 
that  is  to  set  the  mind  steadfastly  on  hope,  courage,  helpfulness 
to  others  who  especially  need  help  (helping  those  who  don't  need 
help  is  sycophancy). 

Each  morning  when  you  rise,  say  "I  WILL  be  cheerful  to- 
day." 

When  your  back  aches,  think  about  how  much  you  will  en- 
joy getting  to  bed  at  night — not  how  the  back  aches.  The  more 
you  think  about  the  aching  back,  the  more  it  will  ache.  The  less 
you  think  about  it  and  instead  think  of  something  more  cheerful, 
the  less  it  will  ache. 

The  most  cheerful  people  on  earth  are  the  Christian  Scien- 
tists, who  have  made  a  religion  of  denying  that  there  is  any  such 
thing  as  pain,  suffering,  and  failure.  Whether  you  agree  with 
their  other  doctrines  or  not,  every  one  must  admit  that  setting 
the  mind  resolutely  toward  cheerfulness  and  success  is  the  great- 
est possible  step  toward  getting  them. 

LECTURE  XXin. 
Ability  the  Third  Business  Requirement. 

Most  of  us  think  that  ability  comes  first  instead  of  last.  But 
those  who  have  watched  the  brilliant  and  able  fall  like  moths  in 
the  flame  because  of  poor  health,  because  of  lack  of  reliability, 
or  because  of  a  nasty  disposition,  while  the  cheerful  plodders 
have  won  the  race  as  in  the  story  of  the  hare  and  the  tortoise, 
know  that  we  have  arranged  these  qualities  in  their  true  order  of 
importance. 

But  no  great  success  can  ever  be  attained  unless  we  add 
ability  and  will  power  to  the  three  great  underlying  requirements 
of  health,  reliability,  and  pleasing  personality. 

The  first  thing  we  must  do  in  order  to  develop  and  make  the 
most  of  the  ability  we  were  born  with  (for  none  of  us  can  get 
ourselves  born  over  again)  is  to  find  out  what  we  are  best 
fitted  for. 

Dr.  Taylor  when  he  taught  pig-iron  handlers  to  load  47^2 
tons  of  pig  iron  in  a  day  instead  of  12 1^,  first  of  all  selected  his 
men,  and  found  that  only  one  in  eight  was  physically  able  to 
handle  pig  iron  at  the  Increased  rate ;  yet  it  was  not  at  all  difficult 
to  find  as  many  as  he  wished.    A  good  pig-iron  handler  needed  to 


176  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS 

be  rather  stupid,  for  if  he  were  intelligent  he  wouldn't  be  content 
with  that  sort  of  work. 

Therefore  the  first  step  toward  success  so  far  as  you  yourself 
can  determine  it  is,  "Know  thyself."  Find  out  what  one  little 
thing  in  the  world  you  can  do  better  than  anybody  else.  Monopoly 
is  the  first  great  secret  of  business  success. 

Now  what  can  you  make  your  monopoly? 

LECTURE  XXIV. 

Accuracy  and  Speed. 

The  best  employee  is  the  one  who  can  work  with  the  greatest 
accuracy  combined  with  the  greatest  speed. 

Accuracy  comes  first,  speed  second.  Many  think  speed  is 
first,  and  if  they  get  speed  they  will  be  accurate  enough  to  pass. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  lack  of  accuracy  so  often  causes  workers  to 
turn  around  and  do  their  work  over  again  that  It  absolutely 
destroys  natural  speed.  If  accuracy  is  put  first,  whatever  speed 
is  attained  will  be  permanent. 

Speed  comes  with  practice.  Starting  with  a  sure  foundation 
of  accuracy,  one  can  almost  count  on  time  doing  the  rest.  But 
time  only  confirms  a  habit  of  inaccuracy,  and  those  who  place 
speed  ahead  of  accuracy  are  almost  positively  shut  out  from  ever 
attaining  first  place. 

LECTURE  XXV. 
Initiative. 

In  business  new  situations  are  always  coming  up — or  at  any 
rate  new  combinations  of  old  situations.  Initiative  is  recognizing 
those  situations,  deciding  what  ought  to  be  done,  and  doing  it. 

Girls  usually  lack  initiative  because  of  natural  timidity. 

Boys  lack  initiative  because  of  poor  judgment.  The  person 
who  does  the  wrong  thing  a  few  times  is  likely  to  be  "called 
down"  so  hard  he  does  not  forget  it  right  away. 

Women  have  a  natural  intuition  as  to  what  the  occasion 
requires,  and  it  is  a  wise  man  who  is  guided  by  that  intuition. 
That  is  one  reason  why  married  men  frequently  succeed  in  busi- 
ness where  they  failed  before  marriage,  and  why  many  employers 
encourage  their  men  to  marry.  Another  reason  is  that  marriage 
gives  stability. 

Girls  ought  to  develop  their  courage  and  will  power;  but  as 
that  will  be  a  slow  process,  they  are  likely  to  make  more 
progress  through   attaching  themselves  to   an   employer   who   is 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS  177 

shrewd  enough  to  act  ol  their  suggestions.  Any  girl  who  will 
watch  her  intuitions  and  systematically  give  her  employer  sug- 
gestions as  to  what  would  be  an  improvement,  may  at  first  have 
her  ideas  neglected,  but  after  a  time  is  sure  to  prove  her  worth 
and  find  her  employer  quick  to  resiK)nd  to  every  hint. 

Boj's  on  the  other  hand  as  a  rule  should  cultivate  patience, 
and  go  over  the  situation  again  and  again  before  really  doing 
anything,  to  be  sure  it  is  right.  Their  great  danger  in  cultivating 
initiative  is  that  they  will  do  the  wrong  thing  and  have  to  pay 
the  penalty. 

LECTI'RE  XXVI. 

Initiative  Depends  on  Knowing  the  Business. 

The  prime  quality  of  a  business  manager  is  initiative.  It 
was  initiative  that  conceived  and  develoi^ed  every  successful  busi- 
ness. 

Initiative  on  the  part  of  the  employee  means  doing  some  of 
the  work  of  the  manager.  The  successful  employee  likely  to  be 
promoted  to  a  higher  grade  is  a  'iittle  manager,"  a  sort  of  sub- 
stitute for  the  manager,  doing  as  many  things  as  i)ossible  that 
the  manager  would  otherwise  have  to  do. 

There  are  two  elements  in  the  usefulness  of  all  employees. 
One  is  his  knowledge  of  his  special  art,  as  that  of  the  stenog- 
rapher, bookkeeper,  or  salesman,  and  the  other  is  knowledge  of 
how  to  apply  that  special  art  or  skill  to  the  requirements  of  one 
particular  business.  Many  stenographers  think  it  makes  little 
difference  what  business  they  go  into,  or  how  often  they  change; 
and  the  same  is  often  true  of  bookkeepers  and  salesmen.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  few  employees  are  of  much  value  till  the  employer 
has  taught  them  his  particular  business. 

Employees  without  initiative  are  content  to  be  only  stenog- 
raphers, bookkeepers,  or  salesmen. 

Employees  with  initiative  go  systematically  about  studying 
the  special  business  in  which  they  are  working,  so  that  when 
occasion  arises  they  will  be  able  to  do  what  the  manager  would 
have  done  himself.  It  is  easy  for  the  person  who  knows  the 
business,  but  very  hard  for  the  person  who  does  not  know  it. 

LECTURE  XXVII. 
Analysis  of  a  Business. 
In  Section  Eight,  page  201,  of  "How  to  Do  Business  by  Let- 
ter and  Advertising,"  we  find  a  study  of  the  Preliminary  Analysis 
of  a  Business.    The  suggested  steps  are  as  follows : 


178  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS 

1.  Collect  and  study  all  the  printed  matter  and  advertising 
of  that  business.  These  are  intended  to  educate  the  public  on  the 
merits  of  that  business,  and  they  ought  to  be  your  best  textbook 
in  studying  it. 

2.  As  the  minds  of  the  customers  have  been  largely  shaped 
by  the  advertising  and  sales  talk  of  competitors,  the  second  step 
is  to  go  systematically  about  finding  out  all  about  the  competition 
that  must  be  met,  by  collecting  and  studying  the  advertising 
matter  of  competitors. 

3.  In  what  points  has  this  business  a  monopoly  over  all 
others? 

4.  Get  a  vivid  image  of  the  typical  or  average  or  best  cus- 
tomer of  the  house  so  in  all  your  actions  you  feel  as  if  you  were 
dealing  with  one  man  or  woman  whom  you  know  very  well 
indeed. 

5.  What  form  of  appeal  is  most  successful  with  that  tyiiical 
customer — how  can  you  best  make  him  see  the  points  on  which 
your  house  has  a  monopoly? 

LECTURE  XXVIII. 
Aim  at  Becoming  a  Manager. 

The  persons  who  make  big  money  are  the  managers  of  busi- 
nesses. If  you  wish  to  make  big  money  in  business  you  must  aim 
at  becoming  a  manager  yourself.  How  can  you  best  succeed  in 
that? 

The  answer  is  simple.  Cultivate  initiative,  help  the  manager, 
practice  on  thinking  the  manager's  thoughts,  study  the  business 
as  he  studies  it,  identify  yourself  with  his  interests  so  you  would 
care  for  them  in  his  absence  just  as  you  would  if  you  were  his 
mother,  his  father,  his  wife,  his  husband — that  is,  just  as  if  you 
were  his  other  self,  without  being  obtrusive,  without  interference, 
but  always  "Johnny-on-the-spot"  when  something  important 
needs  to  be  done  and  no  one  else  seems  likely  to  do  it. 

It  matters  little  whether  you  will  ever  have  a  chance  to 
manage  that  particular  business  or  not.  Get  to  the  bottom  of  one 
business,  and  you  have  learned  how  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  all 
businessos.  The  practice  in  thinking  managerial  thoughts,  either 
after  a  real  manager  who  thinks  them  successfully,  or  in  place 
of  a  real  manager  who  cannot  do  everything  that  might  be  done, 
is  the  only  effective  training  to  become  a  manager. 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS  17^ 

LECTURE  XXIX. 
The  Elements  of  Success  in  Business  Management. 

Whether  or  not  you  ever  go  iuto  business  for  yourself,  it  is 
important  that  you  get  beyond  the  general  manager  to  the  pro- 
prietor or  originator  of  the  business.  Let  us  take  a  lesson  on 
starting  a  business. 

The  first  consideration  is,  Can  I  give  people  something  they 
really  need  and  want,  and  give  it  better  than  any  one  else  in  the 
world? 

Unless  people  really  need  what  you  propose  to  give,  they  will 
not  want  it  long ;  and  unless  they  really  want  it,  it  is  not  for  you 
to  say  they  need  it. 

The  initial  step  is  to  test  the  market  to  see  whether  it  exists 
or  not,  and  do  it  at  the  very  smallest  possible  cost.  Study  will 
enable  you  to  find  out  how  to  experiment  economically. 

The  second  question  is,  Can  you  equip  yourself  to  give  this 
thing  you  know  the  people  want,  or  to  perform  the  service  they 
require?  That  is  a  question  of  capital,  or  of  the  co-operation  of 
other  people  who  are  in  commanding  positions.  Your  first  piece 
of  business  is  to  get  that  capital  or  persuade  those  commanding 
people,  and  if  you  can't  do  that  it  is  not  at  all  likely  you  can 
reach  the  other  people  successfully.  Thousands  of  businesses 
have  failed,  and  have  been  doomed  to  failure  from  the  start,  for 
want  of  suflicient  capital.  The  men  at  the  head  of  it  dash  on 
leaving  an  enemy  in  the  rear,  or  a  weak  spot  through  which  the 
unexpected  enemy  of  hard  times  is  pretty  sure  to  break  sooner 
or  later. 

Examine  the  businesses  you  know  and  see  if  they  have  any 
points  of  monopoly,  or  are  trying  to  crowd  out  some  one  just 
ahead;  also  if  they  started  on  a  sound  basis. 

LECTURE   XXX. 
The  Elements  of  Success  in  Business  Management  (continued). 

When  a  business  has  been  started  on  a  vital  need  of  the 
people,  and  has  got  the  backing  it  needs  before  plunging  ahead, 
questions  of  scientific  management  should  be  studied. 

The  first  great  question  is,  Does  this  business  actually  yield 
a  profit?  It  has  been  discovered  that  a  large  proportion  of  actual 
businesses  are  run  at  a  loss  because  the  managers  have  no 
scientific  cost  system,  and  competition  creates  a  tendency  to  make 
prices  too  low.  No  business  cai\  be  on  a  scientific  basis  unless  its 
manager  actually  knows  what  it  costs  him  to  run  it,  .aid  doesn't 


180  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS 

carelessly  overlook  any  items,  such  as  his  own  time;  or  whether 
he  makes  money  on  one  department  and  loses  it  on  others.  That 
requires  an  efficient  system  of  bookkeeping,  and  also  an  efficient 
system  of  analysing  costs.  Many  printers  go  into  bankruptcy 
because  they  forget  some  items  in  making  their  estimates,  lacking 
a  proper  system  of  checking  all  possible  items.  Furniture  manu- 
facturers lose  because  thej'  have  no  system  of  separating  the 
cost  of  one  particular  article  from  all  the  rest,  and  while  they 
make  money  on  some,  they  lose  more  on  others,  whereas  if  they 
cut  out  those  on  which  they  were  suffering  loss  they  would  make 
a  handsome  profit. 

Advertising  is  necessary,  but  it  is  said  75  per  cent  is  wasted 
because  the  advertisers  have  no  scientific  means  of  knowing  what 
each  particular  form  of  advertising  yields.  Sonic  pays  and  some 
does  not;  if  they  tested  all  on  the  smallest  possible  scale  and 
knew  they  were  putting  out  none  which  did  not  pay,  that  enormous 
waste  would  be  largely  eliminated. 

LECTURE  XXXI. 
The  Elements  of  Success  in  Business  Management  (continued). 

Competition  is  always  forcing  prices  down.  That  on  which 
there  is  a  monopoly  has  only  the  competition  of  other  human 
wants,  and  if  the  thing  is  wanted  at  all  it  can  be  sold  at  a  good 
profit.  That  which  is  supplied  equally  well  by  many  can  at  best 
show  but  a  very  small  profit. 

But  even  at  that,  some  may  be  forced  out  of  business  be- 
cause they  cannot  make  the  article  as  cheaply  as  a  competitor; 
and  others  may  make  a  fortune  because  they  discover  some  way 
to  reduce  the  cost  below  that  of  the  average. 

The  largest  element  of  cost  in  nearly  everything  is  labor. 
The  wood  in  a  table  costs  perhaps  a  dollar,  and  the  labor  of 
making  it  costs  seven  or  eight  dollars.  That  is  a  fair  example 
of  the  relative  value  of  labor  in  all  manufacturing.  Usually  the 
cost  of  material  cannot  be  reduced  very  much ;  but  the  cost  of 
labor  may  always  be  reduced  by  the  science  of  "human  engi- 
neering." Mr.  Gilbreth's  study  of  how  to  save  the  wasted 
motions  in  bricklaying  and  Mr.  Taylor's  study  of  the  human 
engineering  problem  of  how  to  load  pig  iron  are  mere  passing 
illustrations  of  the  enormous  possibilities  of  scientific  manage- 
ment, and  how  much  more  may  be  got  out  of  employees  if  they 
are  handled  rightly. 

The  fact  is,  short  hours,  good  pay,  a  pleasant  place  to  work, 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  SUCCESS  181 

sympathetic  teaching,  and  a  kindly  manner,  pay  the  management 
so  handsomely  that  its  interests  are  Identical  with  the  interests 
of  the  employee.  When  employee  and  employer  are  both  wise 
enough  to  see  that,  there  will  be  no  strikes. 

LECTURE  XXXII. 
The  Three   Sides  of  Business — Executive,   Production,   Selling 

In  a  manufacturing  business  there  is  the  Factory,  the  Sales 
Force,  and  the  Office,  the  producing,  the  selling,  and  the  executive 
sides  of  the  business.  In  a  wholesale  business  the  factory  is  re- 
placed by  the  Buyers,  while  the  Sales  Force  and  the  Office 
remain  the  same.  In  a  school  there  are  the  Teachers,  the  Sales 
Force  (if  it  is  a  proprietary  school),  and  the  Office  or  general 
management. 

It  is  the  business  of  the  Factory  to  get  the  best  possible 
goods  for  the  least  possible  money,  and  systematic  routine  is  the 
prevailing  order  of  work. 

The  work  of  the  Executive  is  to  supply  the  necessary  capital, 
prepare  the  plans  of  campaign,  and  keep  everything  moving  har- 
moniously. 

It  is  the  business  of  the  Sales  Force  to  educate  the  customers 
on  the  merits  of  the  goods,  and  bring  in  the  orders  to  the  office. 
The  salesmen  may  go  out  and  Fee  the  customers,  talk  to  them, 
and  take  their  orders — that  is  called  personal  salesmanship;  or 
they  may  sit  in  the  office  and  by  means  of  advertisements  and 
sales  letters  cause  the  orders  to  be  mailed  to  the  office — that  is 
called  office  salesmanship.  The  fact  that  two  kinds  of  work  are 
done  in  the  same  office  should  not  cause  us  to  confuse  the 
Executive  with  the  Sales  department.  There  are  executive  let- 
ters and  there  are  sales  letters,  and  they  should  be  handled  quite 
differently.  Nevertheless,  the  development  of  Office  Salesmanship 
has  opened  the  door  for  the  office  employees  to  enter  the  selling 
end  of  the  business — girls  quite  as  much  as  boys. 

We  have  studied  the  personal  qualities  required  for  success 
in  all  departments  alike,  the  factory,  the  office,  and  the  sales 
force.  We  have  seen  some  of  the  problems  of  business  manage- 
ment, the  work  of  the  executive  end  of  the  business.  Now  we 
may  take  up  a  detailed  study  of  the  selling  end  of  the  business. 

We  start  with  the  assumption  that  the  firm  has  something  to 
sell  which  the  public  wants  and  really  needs,  with  some  features 
that  cannot  be  found  anywhere  else,  and  while  people  may  not 
know  it,  they  would  be  better  off  if  they  spent  some  of  their 


182  PERSONAL  SALESMANSHIP 

money  on  these  goods — or  at  least  that  some  people  would.  Mak- 
ing people  take  what  is  not  for  their  best  interests  we  have 
already  called  "plunder,"  not  salesmanship. 

LECTURE  XXXIII. 
The  Art  of  Dealing  with  Human  Nature 

We  need  to  know  the  science  of  human  nature  so  as  to  make 
ourselves  efficient  in  all  that  goes  to  make  up  a  big  personality; 
we  need  to  know  the  science  of  human  nature  so  as  to  handle 
employees  effectively  and  get  out  of  them  the  best  there  is  in 
them ;  but  above  all  we  need  to  know  the  science  of  human  nature 
so  that  we  can  handle  customers. 

Selling  is  very  much  like  educating,  but  with  this  difference: 
whereas  the  teacher  has  his  pupils  so  they  can't  get  away  from 
him,  the  salesman  must  educate  by  attraction,  without  any  power 
to  compel  responsive  effort  on  the  part  of  those  he  is  teaching. 
In  short,  customers  are  like  pupils  at  recess  when  they  are  all 
wrapped  up  in  their  games  and  do  not  feel  any  obligation  to  give 
attention.  Though  grown  up,  they  are  much  like  children;  and 
like  children  they  are  very  hard  to  understand. 

Personal  salesmen  go  out  and  see  their  customers,  and  can 
keep  on  studying  them  till  they  really  know  them.  Office  sales- 
men must  handle  customers  they  cannot  see,  by  the  power  of 
imagination.  Obviously  the  best  way  to  prepare  for  office  sales- 
manship or  advertising  is  to  study  personal  salesmanship. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  take  up  the  principles  of  personal 
salesmanship  as  applied  to  soliciting  enrolments  for  a  commercial 
school.  We  study  that  because  all  the  factors  are  within  easy 
observation. 


OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP  183 

APPENDIX  C 
Office   Salesmanship 

Familiar  Letters  to  a  Private  Secretary  or  Manager's  Assistant 

I 

Dear  Student:  You  would  like  to  become  a  really  efficient  private 
secretary.  You  are  ambitious  and  want  to  earn  more  money  and  do 
more  responsible  work  (less  mechanical  drudgery).  I  doubt  not  your 
manager,  if  you  are  employed,  sympathizes  warmly  with  j'our  desire, 
and  is  even  more  anxious  than  you  are  that  you  should  be  able  to  Co 
a  higher  grade  of  work  than  at  present.  It  is  therefore  in  his  interests 
as  well  as  yours  that  I  shall  write  you  a  series  of  letters  giving  you 
practical  suggestions  on  how  you  can  make  yourself  more  valuable. 

It  is  the  business  of  a  private  secretary  to  do  as  large  a  part  of 
the  manager's  work  as  possible,  and  to  a  large  extent  without  being 
told.  That  means  you  must  learn  to  be  a  regular  little  manager  your- 
self. Girls  are  often  timid  and  distrustful  of  their  own  powers.  On 
that  account  they  do  not  go  ahead  and  do  Ti  lot  of  things  the  manager 
doesn't  want  done  at  all,  as  young  men  are  sometimes  inclined  to  do. 
But  it  is  just  as  great  a  mistake  for  girls  not  to  go  ahead  and  co 
what  the  manager  does  want  done.  I  want  to  teach'  you  to  make  a 
systematic  study  of  what  your  manager  wants  done,  understand  his 
reasons  for  doing  this,  that,  and  the  other,  and  get  so  that  in  time  you 
will  be  able  to  do  a  great  many  things  he  now  has  to  give  his  attention 
to.  If  his  time  is  worth  $o  a  day,  and  yours  is  worth  $1  a  day  you  readily 
see  that  everything  you  can  do  that  he  would  otherwise  have  to  do 
will  save  him  and  the  house  $4  a  day. 

If  you  are  going  to  be  a  "little  manager"  you  must  study  the  cus- 
tomers of  your  house  and  learn  how  it  is  possible  to  get  business  from 
them ;  for  your  manager  is  worth  his  salary  precisely  because  he  knows 
how  to  serve  those  customers  in  such  a  way  that  they  will  pay  the 
house  money,  and  if  you  are  going  to  take  his  place  in  writing  original 
letters,  you  must  know  how  to  do  that,  too.  There  is  no  reason  on  earth 
why  a  girl  should  not  make  a  rattling  good  correspondent,  able  to 
satisfy  customers  and  sell  goods  just  as  well  as  a  man — except  that  she 
usually  thinks  that  is  above  her.  It  is  not.  Take  hold  of  this  part  of 
my  instruction  and  dig  right  into  it. 


184  OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP 

I  have  summarized  my  work  for  managers  in  the  enclosed  sheet 
entitled  "How  You  Can  Write  Letters  and  Advertisements  That  Will 
Pull."  I  call  it  my  "System  of  Analysis."  It  gives  you  a  bird's-eye 
view  of  all  the  essential  elements  you  must  know  in  order  to  write  any 
letter  that  will  really  do  business.  I  have  used  it  myself  to  find  out 
the  selling  points  in  some  fifty  different  lines  of  business,  with  remark- 
able success,  and  it  will  be  your  sure  guide  to  the  things  you  must  have 
for  success  in  original  letter  writing.  I  consider  this  in  some  respects 
the  most  important  paper  I  shall  send  you,  and  I  want  you  to  keep  it 
always  by  your  side  as  a  check  sheet  to  see  whether  you  know  what  you 
are  doing  when  you  try  to  write  a  letter  that  is  something  more  than 
a  sort  of  stereotyped  form. 

But  there  is  an  easy  way  for  you  to  get  a  stock  of  well  worded 
sentences  and  paragraphs  which  you  can  use  in  writing  original  letters 
that  your  manager  will  say  are  actually  better  than  any  he  can  dictate 
oiThand.  The  Form  Paragraph  Letter  Writer  is  a  scrap-book  in  which 
you  can  paste,  in  properly  indexed  places,  copies  of  your  manager's  best 
sentences,  paragraphs,  and  letters.  All  you  need  to  co  is  to  take  an 
extra  carbon  copy  of  the  letters  you  write  for  him,  mark  the  para- 
graphs that  might  be  used  again,  get  him  to  correct  and  perfect  them, 
and  then  copy  them  off  on  fresh  paper  and  paste  in  the  book.  After  a 
few  weeks  you  will  find  these  sentences  and  paragraphs  will  help  you 
to  write  a  great  many  letters  yourself  which  otherwise  it  would  be 
absolutely  impossible  for  you  to  attempt. 

SYSTEM  OF  ANALYSIS. 

How  You  Can  Write  Letters  and  Advertisements  That  Will  Pull. 

Before  anyone  can  hope  to  write  letters,  circulars,  or  advertisements 
that  will  pull  business  it  is  necessary  to  have  the  following  information : 

1.  What  is  your  competition?  I  would  not  refer  directly  to  your 
competitors  in  any  letter  I  might  write,  but  I  must  address  a  customer 
in  whose  mind  are  the  arguments  of  your  competitors.  You  must  know 
what  those  arguments  are,  and  go  about  saying  that  which  will  offset 
or  counterbalance  them  in  the  mind  of  the  customer.  If  you  have  to 
compete  with  lower  prices,  it  is  necessary  to  talk  frankly  on  the  subject 
of  prices  and  point  out  in  a  commonsense  way  why  your  customer  can't 
afford  to  take  that  which  costs  less  and  is  correspondingly  lower  in 
quality,  and  why  or  how  he  will  make  more  money  in  the  end  by  paying 
a  little  more  and  getting  something  that  is  right. 

2.  Then  you  should  consider  what  you  have  that  nobody  else  in 
your  territory  has.  You  may  say,  Nothing.  Unless  you  have  something 
your  customer  can't  get  as  conveniently  from  anybody  else,  you  have  no. 


OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP  185 

basis  to  ask  for  business.  You  may  give  better  service,  you  may  even 
give  only  a  pleasanter  manner  and  fairer  treatment.  You  must  find 
out  what  it  is  that  makes  one  of  your  good  customers  give  you  his 
business  in  preference  to  giving  it  to  the  other  fellow. 

The  thing  you  have  which  nobody  else  really  has  (whether  any- 
body else  can  get  it  or  not  is  another  matter)  is  what  really  makes  a 
man  buy  from  you,  and  which  you  ought  to  drive  home  hardest  of  all 
in  your  sales  letter. 

3.  Talk  is  not  enough,  however,  to  get  orders.  Arguments  must 
be  supplemented  by  proof.  You  must  consider  how  to  prove  your  claims, 
and  if  you  can  make  your  claims  in  the  testimonial  words  of  other 
people,  even  if  you  can't  quote  their  names,  you  have  gained  a  splendid 
point. 

A  bunch  of  conventional  testimonials  in  small  type  are  worth  little, 
even  if  you  can  get  them  and  use  them  at  all.  Get  a  testimonial  that 
is  really  a  splendid  record  of  facts,  the  history  of  a  case,  and  put  it  in 
facsimile  form,  and  play  it  up  in  good  type  with  a  clear  blackletter 
heading.  Or  reproduce  checks  or  sales  orders,  or  give  records  of  sales, 
OR  ANY  FACTS  THAT  WILL  TEND  TO  PROVE  YOUR  CLAIMS. 
Records  of  facts  that  will  pass  in  a  law  court  are  what  you  want,  not 
praise  or  any  form  of  "hot  air,"  either  of  your  own,  or  from  anybody 
else. 

4.  Ask  a  man  to  do  something  easy  that  he  can  reasonably  do,  and 
make  it  as  easy  for  him  to  do  it  as  you  can.  A  return  postal  card  carrying  a 
trial  order  or  a  bit  of  information  you  ought  to  have  is  a  good  thing, 
and  you  should  have  a  printed  postal  card  form  to  use  as  often  as 
possible.  Don't  forget  to  be  VERY  CLEAR  AND  SPECIFIC  as  to  what 
you  want  done,  and  provide  a  convenient  way. 

5.  Getting  your  facts  right  is  much  more  important  than  the 
wording  of  your  letter,  and  if  you  haven't  the  preceding  four  points,  it 
doesn't  matter  much  how  well  you  word  your  letters. 

But  if  you  have  the  basis  right,  consider  the  following  points  in 
connection  with  the  wording. 

a.  Have  you  covered  every  ix)int  with  absolute  clearness,  just  as 
you  would  explain  to  a  child?  It  is  a  mistake  to  assume  that  every 
business  man  knows  this,  that,  or  the  other, 'and  that  it  would  be 
foolish  to  refer  to  such  points.  When  a  man  is  reading  hastily  he  wants 
everything  before  him  or  else  he  is  likely  to  overlook  something,  or 
it  is  not  clear  enough  for  instant  perception.  Don't  compel  him  to 
figure  out  what  is  wanted.    Let  him  see  at  a  glance. 

b.  Do  you  present  your  points  in  logical  order  as  indicated  in  the 
following : 


186  OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP 

1.  Creating  desire.  It  is  a  great  error  to  suppose  that  many  people 
waut  what  you  have  to  offer.  Most  business  men  assume  that  the  desire 
exists  and  they  have  only  to  satisfy  it.  The  really  successful  advertisers 
have  perceived  that  desire  must  first  be  created,  or  fanned  up. 

2.  Showing  how  your  plan  works.  Most  people  depend  on  their 
own  common  sense.  If  the  plan  seems  reasonable,  they  will  trust  their 
own  judgment  of  it.    You  must  therefore  give  them  a  chance  to  judge. 

3.  Proving  your  statements.  The  first  question  a  possible  buyer 
asks  is,  Is  this  your  theory  of  what  your  scheme  ought  to  do,  or  has 
somebody  actually  found  your  theory  to  be  sound,  your  scheme  suc- 
cessful? 

/f.    Making  a  man  feel  like  ordering. 

5.    Making  ordering  easy,  safe,  and  quick. 

c.  Do  you  strongly  though  briefly  emphasize  FACTS  that  will  catch 
a  man's  attention  at  first  glance  and  fix  it,  or  do  you  emphasize  more 
w^ords  which  he  will  not  understand  unless  he  reads  your  letter  through? 
Capitals  and  underscores  should  be  used  to  make  three  or  four  promi- 
nent facts  stand  out  so  they  will  catch  attention  at  the  very  first  glance. 
They  take  the  place  of  blackletter  heads  in  a  circular,  not  emphasized 
words  in  conversation. 

d.  Are  your  strongest  points  put  in  very  short  paragraphs  (of 
two  or  three  lines  each)? 

e.  Is  your  letter  addressed  to  dealers  or  business  men  who  demand 
a  very  short  letter,  or  to  farmers,  women,  etc.,  who  have  time  to  read 
a  long  letter,  and  want  a  long  letter?  In  any  case,  don't  be  afraid  to 
write  a  letter  long  enough  to  tell  your  whole  story. 

f.  Is  your  letter  enthusiastic  enough?  Extreme  energy  of  ex- 
pression is  necessary  to  make  a  man  feel  like  ordering,  in  most  cases. 
Seldom  does  a  tame  letter  do  much  good. 

g.  No  one  will  be  able  to  write  any  pulling  letter,  circular,  or 
advertisement  without  the  information  asked  for  in  the  first  part  of  this 
analysis,  but  careful  study  of  these  points  yourself  will  do  you  more 
good  than  any  help  of  any  advertising  expert.  You  know  your  business 
better  than  any  other  person  on  earth,  and  it  is  you  who  can  construct 
the  best  sales  letter  if  you  know  how  to  go  about  it.  If  your  business 
proposition  is  right,  your  list  of  names  right,  and  your  goods  right,  you 
win  certainly  succeed  if  you  follow  these  principles. 

II 
INITIATIVE. 
Dear  Student: 

If  you  want  a  better  job  it  is  an  absolutely  sure  thing  that  you 
can  get  it,  with  a  good  increase  in  salary,  if  you  will  make  yourself 


OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP  187 

worth  more  to  your  manager;  aud  I  want  to  tell  you  just  how  you  can 
do  that. 

lu  your  office  there  is  one  typewriter,  aud  perhaps  a  great  many. 
Nine  chances  out  of  ten  there  is  something  the  matter  with  that  type- 
writer, aud  the  manager  is  too  busy  to  attend. to  it.  It  may  be  dirtj' 
(perhaps  you  don't  clean  it  thoroughly  every  day.  perhaps  the  girl  who 
runs  it  doesn't  know  how  to  clean  it).  The  ribbon  may  be  a  poor 
brand  so  it  makes  the  writing  look  smutty  and  blurred.  The  platen 
(or  rubber  roller)  may  be  old  and  hard,  and  full  of  little  holes  (a  new 
one  costs  only  $1.50  and  you  should  have  a  new  one  every  six  months — 
it  will  pay). 

First  class  work  doesn't  cost  any  more  than  third  class  if  SOME- 
BODY MAKES  A  BUSINESS  OF  KEEPING  THE  EQUIPMENT  UP 
TO  THE  TOP  NOTCH.  Are  you  going  to  be  the  somebody  who  will 
make  it  a  business  in  a  quiet,  unobtrusive  way  to  see  that  these  things 
are  done  by  simply  going  ahead  and  doing  them? 

How  many  an  office  assistant  says,  "It  is  not  my  business  to  get 
these  things.  If  the  manager  wants  them,  he  can  order  them.  I  haven't 
any  money  to  buy  them."  BUT  THE  YOUNG  MAN  OR  YOUNG 
WOMAN  WHO  CALLS  ATTENTION  TO  THEM,  makes  it  his  or  her 
business  to  see  that  they  are  supplied,  is  in  line  for  a  better  salary  JUST 
AS  SURE  AS  YOU  ARE  BORN.  The  manager  says,  "The  person  who 
thinks  of  those  things  has  initiative,  and  that's  just  what  I  want." 

Your  office  can  send  out  letters  as  haiidsome  as  any  that  are  seen 
anywhere,  and  YOU  ARE  THE  PERSON  WHO  CAN  BRING  IT 
ABOUT.  The  way  to  do  it  is  just  to  suggest  milcly.  It  doesn't  do  any 
good.  Suggest  mildly  again.  It  doesn't  do  any  good,  I  know,  and 
nothing  comes  of  it.  Suggest  mildly  a  third  time,  a  fourth,  a  fifth,  a 
sixth,  a  seventh,  an  eighth,  a  ninth.  If  you  don't  change  your  own  mind 
by  the  tenth  time  you  probably  will  find  that  the  change  is  made. 

Now  don't  forget  that  perhaps  your  ideas  are  wrong.  Ixmk  out 
for  that.  Somebody  objects.  Just  think  carefully  if  the  objection  is 
good.  Perhaps  there  is  some  little  bit  of  a  point  about  your  plan  which 
is  not  quite  right  and  all  the  objection  is  to  that  little  point.  Change 
the  little  point  and  try  again.  If  necessary,  change  a  dozen  times  on 
account  of  the  criticisms  and  objections  you  have  to  meet.  Only  in  that 
way  will  you  learn  what  is  right,  for  nobody  knows  offhand  exactly 
the  best  thing  to  do,  and  those  who  succeed,  do  so  by  learning  from 
their  failures  and  from  their  critics.  BUT  THEY  KEEP  RIGHT  ON 
JUST  THE  SAME.    That's  what  you  want  to  do. 


188  OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP 

III 
SYSTEM  FOR  OFFICE   STATIONERY. 
Dear  Student: 

111  almost  every  business  oflace  in  the  country  the  office  supplies  get 
out  before  anybody  knows  it,  and  then  there  is  a  double-quick  scramble  to 
get  more,  the  printer  is  worried  and  rushed  to  death,  and  in  general 
there  is  no  end  of  trouble.  A  simple  inventory  sheet  kept  in  the 
drawer  of  the  office  assistant,  and  attended  to,  would  be  worth  its 
weight  in  gold. 

Rule  up  a  sheet  of  paper,  first  dividing  it  into  right  half  and  left 
half  by  a  line  down  the  middle.  Then  rule  each  half  with  one  space 
for  the  month,  another  space  for  the  day  of  the  month,  another  column 
about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  wide  headed  "Received,"  another  about 
the  same  width  headed  "Used,"  and  a  third  the  same  heacled  "Balance." 

Now  see  what  the  different  kinds  of  printing,  etc.,  are  which  you 
are  using  right  along — "letterheads,"  "envelopes,"  "order  cards,"  "second 
s'  eets,"  "return  envelopes."  Make  a  heading  on  the  sheet  for  each  of 
these.  You  can  allow  about  two  inches  below,  so  that  in  both  columns  of 
a  letter  sheet  you  would  get  eight  or  ten  compartments,  each  headed 
by  one  of  the  live  items  of  office  supplies  that  can't  be  got  at  a 
moment's  notice. 

Think  carefully,  for  example,  how  many  letterheads  are  used  in  a 
week  or  a  month.  Consider  how  long  it  usually  takes  to  get  a  fresh 
supply  printed.  See  how  many  are  usually  ordered  at  a  time.  This 
information  will  be  necessary  to  help  you  keep  your  record. 

Now  enter  in  the  column  "Received"  the  number  of  each  there  are 
on  hand  in  the  office  at  present.  If  everybody  helps  himself  or  herself 
to  letterheads  out  of  the  pile,  just  leave  one  package  of  500  open  at  a 
time,  and  simply  tie  up  all  the  rest  and  put  them  somewhere  so  the 
person  who  wants  some  after  the  open  package  is  gone  will  say  in  your 
hearing,  "Aren't  there  any  more  letterheads?"  Then  you  get  out  another 
bunch  of  500  or  whatever  number  you  think  best,  and  write  the  number 
in  the  column  headed  "Used,"  and  in  the  column  headed  "Balance"  what 
remains  after  subtracting  these. 

Do  the  same  with  the  envelopes  and  all  the  rest  of  the  supplies. 
When  you  see  that  there  is  only  enough  of  a  supply  in  reserve  to  last 
say  two  weeks,  just  tell  the  manager  that  the  "letterheads  are  out  and 
he  must  order  more  right  away."  If  he  forgets  it  the  first  time,  tell 
him  again  the  next  day,  and  keep  on  at  him,  just  gently  and  easily, 
till  he  attends  to  the  ordering  or  authorizes  you  to  order.  If  you  can 
get  him  to  let  you  order,  so  much  the  better  for  you. 

In  appendix  "How  to   Systematize  an  Office"   you  will   learn  all 


OFFICE  SALESMANSHir  189 

about  a  groat  many  other  sj'stems  and  how  to  introduce  them  at  small 
exi)ense. 

IV 

FIRST  STEP  TOWARD  SALESMANSHIP. 
Dear  Student : 

In  the  first  two  steps  of  this  course  I  have  given  you  two  little 
suggestions  of  a  practical  character  which  you  can  put  into  operation 
almost  at  once.    They  are  mechanical  and  do  not  go  far. 

I  want  to  tell  you  how  to  write  better  letters.  Start  with  this 
rule— "NEVER  PIT  DOWN  IN  A  LETTER  DICTATED  TO  YOU  A 
SINGLE  WORD  YOi;  DO  NOT  UNDERSTAND.'  Before  the  word  or 
phrase  is  copied  on  the  tyiiewriter.  find  out  what  it  means.  Ask  the 
manager  if  necessary.  But  don't  put  it  down  simply  because  that  is 
what  you  thought  he  said.  If  it  doesn't  mal^e  sense  to  you,  you  may  be 
pretty  sure  it  won't  make  sense  to  the  person  who  receives  it. 

Now,  if  you  are  a  typewriter  operator  you  are  expected  to  put  in 
the  punctuation.  You  can't  possibly  do  that  unless  you  know  what  is 
meant  in  the  letter.  Adopt  this  one  rule — NEVER  USE  A  PUNCTUA- 
TION MARK  UNLESS  IT  IS  REQUIRED  TO  MAKE  THE  MEANING 
CLEARER. 

Learn  what  punctuation  marks  are  for,  what  they  mean,  just  as  if 
they  were  little  worcs.  A  colon  means  "as  follows"  or  "equivalent  to," 
but  is  seldom  used  in  business  letter  writing.  A  dash  means  an  abrupt 
transition.  Commas  are  used  to  keep  together  words  which  belong  in  a 
group,  and  to  separate  one  group  of  words  from  another  so  they  won't 
get  mixed  together.  That  is  just  about  all  the  comma  is  for,  to  keep  one 
lot  of  words  from  getting  mixed  with  another  lot,  and  if  you  have  that 
clearly  in  mind  you  will  be  pretty  sure  to  use  commas  all  right,  whether 
you  remember  the  rules  or  not. 

And  I  will  tell  you  how  to  obey  all  the  rules  of  grammar  without 
remembering  one  of  them — simply  BE  SURE  YOU  SAY  ACCT'RATELY 
AND  CLEARLY^  exactly  what  is  meant.  Any  little  confusion  of  thought, 
any  doubtful  little  jumble  of  words,  anything  that  seems  incomplete,  is 
probably  an  error  of  grammar,  and  the  way  to  get  rid  of  such  errors 
is  to  think  the  meaning  out  and  make  it  as  plain  as  daylight  to  the 
person  who  is  going  to  read  the  letter. 

But  in  order  to  make  things  clear  to  the  customer  who  will  read  tbe 
letter  you  must  know  something  about  that  customer.  Take  a  good 
look  every  time  any  customer  comes  into  the  office.  When  you  write 
just  try  to  imagine  him  sitting  beside  you,  and  think  that  you  are 
talking  to  him  so  he  will  understand  quite  clearly  all  about  the  thing 
he  wants  to  know. 


190  OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP 

If  you  learu  to  know  the  customer  of  your  particular  house,  so  you 
cau  tell  him  just  what  he  wants  to  know,  YOU  HAVE  LAID  THE 
FOUNDATION  OF  SALESMANSHIP— you  are  started  on  the  road 
toward  the  biggest  kind  of  salary. 

V. 
STUDY    THE    CUSTOMER. 
Dear  Student:* 

Do  you  know  why  you  are  not  trusted  to  answer  correspondence? 
Why  you  are  merely  a  machine  for  putting  on  paper  what  somebody 
else  says? 

You  think  you  can  express  yourself  as  well  as  anybody  else,  and 
very  likely  you  can.  But  that  isn't  the  point.  YOU  MUST  KNOW 
WHAT  TO  SAY  TO  MAKE  THE  CUSTOMER  FEEL  SATISFIED. 
Some  one  of  them  writes  in  and  asks  if  he  can  have  60  days  on  his 
bill  of  goods,  and  you  say,  "You  will  find  our  terms  on  page  2  of  our 
catalogue."  Or  he  asks  if  you  have  a  certain  brand  of  prepared  food, 
and  you  say  "On  pages  IG  and  17  of  our  catalogue  you  will  find  all  the 
brands  of  food  which  we  carry."  Now  suppose  you  say  in  answer  to  the 
first  question,  "Our  terms  are  strictly  30  days  net,  and  we  have  made 
it  a  rule  not  to  make  any  exceptions.  If  we  should  make  an  exception 
in  your  case  there  would  be  a  hundred  others  asking  the  same  favor,  and 
it  wouldn't  be  fair  to  grant  your  request  and  not  theirs.  As  far  as 
you  are  concerned  we  should  be  only  too  glad  to  accommodate  you  in 
any  way  possible,  but  under  the  circumstances  we  don't  think  it  would 
be  fair  to  others  to  do  it."  In  answer  to  the  second  question,  it  would  be 
simpler  to  say,  "No,  we  don't  carry  that  particular  brand ;  but  on  pages 
IG  and  17  of  our  catalogue  you  will  find  six  other  brands  described  and 
priced,  and  we  sincerely  hope  you  can  make  a  selection  from  these." 

In  the  one  case  you  vaguely  tell  what  he  wants  to  know,  or  don't 
really  tell  him  at  all ;  and  in  the  second  place  you  hit  the  precise  spot 
and  he  is  satisfied  even  when  you  refuse  his  request  or  fail  to  supply 
what  he  wants.  Customers  like  reasons,  they  like  exact  explanations, 
and  if  you  would  only  take  pains  to  find  out  just  what  they  want  to  know 
and  tell  them  that  and  nothing  else,  you  would  be  at  least  a  good  cor- 
respondent to  answer  inquiries  if  not  to  write  sales  letters. 

It  isn't  "hot  air"  that  makes  a  good  letter  writer,  it  is  not  a  free 
flow  of  words  and  a  mess  of  smooth  talk.  IT  IS  telling  the  customer 
JUST  WHAT  HE  WANTS  TO  KNOW.  Too  often  the  corresiwnclent 
doesn't  know  just  what  the  answer  to  the  question  is.  so  he  makes  a 
bluff  at  it  and  lets  it  go.  The  art  of  thinking  things  out  so  that  you 
know  you  know  all  about  it  is  the  real  secret  of  success  as  a  cor- 
respondent. 


OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP  191 

Tell  me.  will  you  resolve  right  now  to  go  systematically  about 
formiug  the  habit  of  thinking  things  out  clearly  before  you  attempt  to 
do  tliemV  Will  you  say  to  yourself.  "No,  I  will  not  rush  into  this  till 
I  know  what  I  am  doing"? 

If  you  can  tell  a  customer  exactly  what  he  wants  to  know,  in  an 
intelligent  way,  you  can  get  along  without  fluency  of  language  so  it 
will  make  you  wonder  at  yourself. 


VI 

FORM  PARAGRAPHS. 
Dear  Student : 

This  lesson  is  especially  intended  for  stenographers,  but  any  other 
person  can  use  the  suggestions  just  as  well — a  bookkeeper,  for  instance, 
who  is  situated  so  as  to  be  able  to  get  extra  carbon  copies  of  letters 
dictated  by  the  manager. 

In  the  course  of  a  week  or  a  month  you  will  find  the  same  points 
coming  up  over  and  over.  Some  letters  are  special,  and  perhaps  all 
letters  have  something  special  in  them ;  but  in  one  paragraph  or  another 
you  will  find  these  same  points  coming  up  over  and  over,  Mark  the 
carbon  copy,  and  put  together  all  the  letters  that  refer  to  the  same 
point.  It  will  not  take  you  more  than  fifteen  minutes.  Incicentally  you 
may  see  a  mistake  here,  a  wrong  comma  there,  a  word  misused,  and 
with  your  pencil  you  will  correct  just  that.  This  is  awkwardly  ex- 
jiressed,  or  that  doesn't  sound  smooth.  Make  it  right.  Don't  make  a 
big  job  of  it  at  one  time.  Perhaps  you  can  do  it  on  the  car  as  you  go 
home  at  night.  It  is  your  daily  lesson.  If  any  point  suggests  doubt, 
try  to  find  out  about  it  the  next  day  by  asking  some  one  who  knows. 

Now  take  all  the  different  iiaragraphs  that  relate  to  a  given  point. 
If  t'uese  have  been  dictated  from  day  to  day  you  will  find  that  some 
are  much  better  than  others.  Sometimes  the  dictator  covers  this  pha.se 
of  the  matter,  and  sometimes  he  doesn't.  Sometimes  he  seems  to  hit  it 
off  happily,  and  then  again  he  is  vague  and  imperfect.  What  you  are  to  do 
is  to  pick  out  his  best  paragraph,  or  make  a  paragraph  by  fitting  together 
two  or  three,  so  you  will  have  one  paragraph  covering  the  ix)int  in  the 
best  possible  style,  or  a  series  of  paragraphs. 

When  you  get  all  this  material  together  very  likely  you  will  see  how 
you  can  improve  on  your  boss.  Don't  be  too  sure  about  that.  He  knows 
his  business  or  he  wouldn't  be  a  boss.  He  knows  more  than  you  do 
about  the  essentials  of  the  business,  or  he  wouldn't  be  paying  you  your 
salary.  But  IX  LITTLE  THINGS  you  may  know  more  than  he  does, 
and  if  you  give  time  and  .study  to  the  matter  you  ought  to  be  able  to 
make  some  improvements. 


192  OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP 

For  example,  he  may  have  a  stereotyped  way  of  opening  and  closing 
letters.  Instead  of  '•Your  esteemed  favor  received  and  contents  noted," 
begin  letters  at  once  with  what  you  wish  to  say.  Probably  to  open 
them  in  this  way  satisfactorily  will  require  some  practice.  Then  take 
up  the  closing  forms  of  letters  and  practice  oii  those  IN  THE  ACTUAL 
LETTERS  BEFORE  YOU.  Then  rewrite  some  entire  letters,  making 
a  good  opening  and  a  good  close,  and  using  in  the  body  some  of  the 
paragraphs  you  have  carefully  perfected  out  of  the  carbon  copies  of  the 
letters  of  your  boss.  A  little  systematic  work  along  this  line  every 
evening,  on  some  real  business  letters,  will  do  more  to  educate  you  to  bi^ 
a  correspondent  than  anything  else  I  know. 


^  VII 

FIRST  STEPS  IN  ACTUAL  LETTER  WRITING. 
Dear  Student : 

As  soon  as  you  feel  you  are  pretty  well  prepared  to  answer 
letters,  at  least  a  few  simple  ones,  try  to  get  a  chance  to  look  over 
the  pile  of  letters  on  your  employer's  desk.  If  he  is  accustomed  to 
open  the  letters  himself  as  they  come  in,  just  say,  "Why  don't  you  let  me 
rip  open  the  envelopes  and  smooth  out  the  letters  for  you?  It  will 
save  you  a  lot  of  time." 

But  if  you  can't  do  that,  notice  the  letters  as  they  are  dictated,  and 
when  you  get  an  easy  one,  just  remark,  "I  think  I  could  answer  a  letter 
like  that  without  dictating  if  you  would  give  me  a  chance.  When  you 
come  to  another  easy  one,  won't  you  give  me  a  chance  to  try  to 
answer  it?" 

If  you  can  see  the  pile  of  letters  before  they  go  to  the  dictator,  just 
lay  out  such  as  you  can  answer  and  say  to  the  dictator,  "I  have  laid  out 
a  few  letters  I  think  I  can  answer  without  dictation,  and  I  wish  you 
would  let  me  try."  You'll  probably  get  the  chance.  Don't  be  in  a  hurry. 
Wait  for  your  opportunity.  It  is  sure  to  come  sooner  or  later  if  you 
are  ready  for  it. 

When  you  have  a  paragraph  carefully  worked  out  in  the  words 
of  the  boss,  you  should  always  use  that.  But  each  letter  may  need 
something  special,  or  a  little  change  to  make  the  paragraph  just  fit. 
Make  just  as  few  changes  as  possible,  but  always  BE  SURE  THE 
LETTER  BEFORE  YOU  IS  FULLY  ANSWERED,  that  the  customer  is 
told  exactly  what  he  wants  to  know,  so  that  he  will  feel  satisfied. 

When  a  letter  is  not  right,  NEVER  LET  IT  GO.  It  is  far  better  to 
say  frankly  you  have  been  unable  to  answer  that  letter  and  give  it  back 
to  the  dictator.  The  habit  of  letting  something  not  quite  right  go  by 
because  you  haven't  time  just  then  to  do  any  better  and  you  hope  it  may 


OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP  193 

pass  muster  or  wont  be  noticed,  is  about  the  worst  one  I  can  imagine. 
You'll  never  learn  to  be  a  good  letter  writer  if  you  do  that.  MAKING 
EVERY  LETTER  JUST  RIGHT  is  the  one  sure  way  of  getting  to 
the  top. 

A  bookkeeper  can  follow  out  this  plan  just  as  well  as  a  stenog- 
rapher. The  stenographer  who  handles  the  work  can  be  asked  to  make 
an  extra  carbon  and  will  usually  do  it  without  saying  anything  about 
it.  Often  the  bookkeeper  has  a  better  chance  to  see  the  original  letters 
as  they  are  received  before  they  are  answered  at  all.  Any  clerk  who  is 
anywhere  near  the  letters,  or  has  anything  to  do  with  them,  can  almost 
always  get  his  or  her  chance  by  a  little  patient  tact.  But  there  is  no  use 
jumping  in  and  trying  to  answer  letters  before  you  are  ready  to  do  so. 
Getting  the  carbon  copies  and  studying  them  for  some  weeks  before  any 
attempt  is  made  actually  to  answer  letters  is  the  indispensable  method 
of  beginning. 

vni 

SALESMANSHIP    IN   LETTER   WRITING. 
Dear  Student: 

If  you  get  so  you  can  tell  a  customer  just  what  he  wants  to  know, 
just  what  he  asks  about,  fully  and  accurately,  and  by  taking  plenty  of 
time  at  home  you  are  able  to  state  the  facts  smoothly,  simply,  and 
clearly,  you  have  a  pretty  good  start.  TAKING  PLENTY  OF  TIME 
TO  DO  IN  THE  BEST  POSSIBLE  WAY  ANYTHING  YOU  ATTEMPT 
TO  DO  is  the  main  thing.  Hurry  is  the  greatest  enemy  of  good  corre- 
spondence the  world  has  ever  known.  If  you  get  a  collection  of  para- 
graphs carefully  worked  up  which  cover  the  things  that  are  mere  repe- 
titions, gi-adually  you  will  build  up  a  system  that  will  enable  you  to 
answer  any  number  of  letters  without  any  hurry  whatever. 

But  now  you  come  to  the  next  step — ^putting  salesman.ship  into  your 
letters.     How  can  you  get  an  indifferent  customer  interested? 

This  customer,  is  either  unaware  that  he  needs  or  wants  anything 
like  what  your  house  has  to  sell  and  you  must  excite  his  desire  by 
picturing  vividly  what  good  the  thing  will  do  him,  or  he  is  using  some 
competitive  article  which  satisfies  him  and  he  doesn't  want  to  bother 
with  your  article.  The  latter  case  is  the  commoner  one,  and  the  one 
you  always  should  study  first. 

Y^ou  probably  give  the  stock  arguments.  "We  have  the  best  article 
on  the  market."  But  that's  what  they  all  say.  The  maker  of  the 
article  the  customer  already  is  using  says  his  is  "the  best.''  Since  they 
are  all  "best,"  one  "best"  is  as  good  as  another. 

What  the  customer  wants  to  know  is  how  your  goods  are  different 
from  what  the  other  fellows  have.    It  may  be  only  a  small  point,  but  if 


194  OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP 

there  is  a  difference,  lie  will  pay  atteutiou  to  it.  He  also  pays  attention 
to  what  some  outside  party  says  who  has  become  enthusiastic.  You 
say  the  article  is  the  "best '  and  he  doesn't  believe  you.  An  outsider 
may  say  the  same  thing  and  it  seems  very  different.  But  usually  the 
outsider  doesn't  put  it  in  exactly  that  way.  He  gives  some  special 
reason  why  he  likes  it. 

You  in  the  office  will  find  it  very  difficult  to  know  what  the  com- 
petitors are  saying  ant^  doing.  But  it  will  pay  you  to  flud  out  and 
there  are  two  ways  in  which  you  can  do  that.  You  can  ask  a  salesman 
connected  with  the  house,  or  the  manager,  and  very  likely  he  will 
explain  to  you  just  what  competition  the  house  has  to  meet,  who  the 
competitors  are,  and  what  the  facts  are  as  to  the  merits  of  their  goods. 
Another  way  is  to  get  a  list  of  the  names  and  addresses  of  the  principal 
competitors,  and  then  write  to  them  from  your  home  address  making 
inquiry  as  if  you  were  going  to  buy,  and  getting  their  catalogues, 
circulars,  etc.  By  reading  these  you  can  find  out  to  some  extent  what 
their  strong  arguments  are  and  how  they  compare  with  those  used  by 
your  house. 

IX 

PUTTING  SALES  ARGUMENTS  INTO  LETTERS. 
Dear  Student: 

From  the  last  lesson  you  will  see  that  in  order  to  put  selling 
arguments  into  letters  you  must  know  something  about  the  business  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  business  manager.  When  you  go  into  a  new 
office  you  naturally  know  nothing  about  the  business,  nor  how  it  is  that 
orders  are  obtained ;  but  before  you  have  been  there  many  months 
you  ought  to  begin  to  observe  what  the  sales  arguments  are  which  pull 
in  orders. 

Here  is  a  good  chance  for  a  new  set  of  form  paragraphs — the 
paragraphs  giving  the  standard  sales  arguments  depended  on  by  the 
house  to  get  business.  You  will  find  these  in  the  letters  of  the  manager, 
no  doubt,  and  from  a  collection  of  carbon  copies  of  his  letters,  together 
with  the  little  stucy  of  the  competition  I  have  spoken  of  in  the  last  letter, 
yon  will  be  able  to  work  out  a  set  of  sales  paragraphs  for  yourself. 

Remember  that  the  first  strong  sales  argument  is  a  clear,  enthusiastic 
explanation  of  what  your  house  has  that  nobody  else  on  earth  can  offer — 
the  thing  that  is  different  from  what  anybody  else  has. 

Then  the  second  lies  in  the  enthusiastic  things  a  pleased  customer 
says.  "When  a  man  gets  enthusiastic  over  a  thing  and  speaks  about 
it,  he  generally  uses  language  that  is  quite  different  from  what  you 
would  use;  there  is  something  spontaneous  about  it,  something  con- 
vincing about  it. 


OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP  195 

« 
Enthusiastic  letters  like  this  are  coming  in  to  every  business  office 

where  a  really  successful  business  is  done.     They  usually  get  put  in 

the  files,  and  there  they  are  buried  forever. 

One  of  the  things  you  as  an  office  assistant  ought  to  do  is  to  keep 
your  eye  pealed  for  any  enthusiastic  remark  of  that  kind,  and  when  you 
get  such  a  remark,  just  copy  off  on  the  typewriter  the  sentence  or 
paragraph  that  is  general  and  can  be  quoted  nicely.  Leave  out  every- 
thing that  wouldn't  interest  another  customer.  Get  only  the  part  that 
really  says  something  fresh  and  stimulating. 

Perhaps  your  firm  objects  to  quoting  what  customers  say,  as  some 
people  do  not  like  to  have  their  letters  used  as  testimonials.  In  that 
case,  still  use  the  quotation  but  without  the  name  and  address.  Say, 
"A  big  Western  manufacturer  wrote  us  only  the  other  day,"  or  something 
like  that.  If  advisable,  tell  as  well  as  you  can  what  kind  of  customer 
it  was  that  made  the  remark,  for  the  more  important  the  customer 
the  more  weight  the  testimonial  has.  IT  IS  UP  TO  YOU  ABOVE  ALL 
OTHERS  TO  CAPTURE  THOSE  ARGUMENTS  ON  THE  WING  AND 
SAVE  THEM. 


EMPHASIS   IN   BUSINESS  WRITING. 

Dear  Student : 

There  is  a  very  important  technical  point  in  connection  with  busi- 
ness writing  as  contrasted  with  business  talking  which  every  person  in 
the  business  world  ought  clearly  to  understand,  yet  which  almost  no 
one  does  understand.  That  is  emphasis.  In  talking  we  emphasize 
adjectives,  saying  "This  is  VERY  good,"  It  is  the  BEST  on  the 
market,"  etc.  In  business  writing  emphasis  must  serve  quite  a  different 
object.  When  you  have  buttonholed  a  man  he  has  to  listen  to  what  you 
have  to  say.  but  letters,  circulars,  and  advertisements  are  always  read 
more  or  less  hastily.  The  IMPORTANT  FACTS  should  therefore  stand 
out  so  that  they  will  be  caught  by  the  person  who  only  glances.  In  an 
advertisement  the  important  facts  are,  or  should  be,  put  into  headlines, 
in  large  strong  type.  Every  headline  ought  to  make  an  important  FACT 
stand  right  out  on  the  page,  not  some  meaningless  phrase  or  catchword, 
for  the  fact  will  be  appreciated  by  itself,  even  by  those  who  give  the 
most  casual  glance,  and  the  mere  word  or  phrase  will  not  be  understood 
unless  the  whole  is  read. 

In  a  circular  the  blackletter  headlines  over  the  successive  sections 
or  paragraphs  should  give  a  series  of  facts  which  taken  by  themselves 
will  tell  the  whole  story  and  especially  the  IMPORTANT  FACTS  that 
ought  to  stand  out.  The  headlines  read  alone,  by  a  person  glancing  over 
them,  ought  to  make  complete  sense  even  if  the  text  is  not  read. 


196  OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP 

In  letter  writing  the  important  facts  should  be  emphasized  by 
underscoring,  by  capital  letters,  or  by  being  put  in  very  short  i»aragraphs 
by  themselves.  Never  underscore  a  mere  word  that  taken  by  itself 
will  make  no  sense;  never  capitalize  a  word  or  phrase  that  is  merely 
a  link  in  the  argument ;  never  put  into  a  separate  paragraph  a  sentence 
or  a  part  of  a  sentence  that  does  not  state  some  solid  fact  (displaying 
thus  what  are  thought  to  be  clever  phrases  is  the  bane  of  young 
writers). 

In  How  to  Do  Business  by  Letter  you  will  find  an  excellent  use 
of  capitals  and  line  display  in  letter  No.  lOi),  page  12(5,  and  in  letter 
No.  117,  page  137.  The  paragraph  display  is  well  shown  in  letter  No. 
9G,  page  lOS,  and  in  letter  No.  107,  page  125. 

In  a  letter  a  short  paragraph  is  a  particularly  good  means  of 
emphasizing,  and  paragraphs  may  be  mace  of  phrases  and  parts  of 
sentences  as  well  as  whole  sentences. 

Young  writers  often  fail  to  emphasize  at  all,  merely  stating  facts 
in  ordinary  language,  in  ordinary  i)aragraplis,  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
UNLESS  A  POINT  IS  DRIVEN  HOME  HARD  it  probably  will  not  be 
appreciated. 

XI 

HOW  TO  GET  ORDERS  IN  ANY  BUSINESS. 
Dear  Student: 

A  "pulling"  letter  is  a  talk  on  paper  to  get  an  order. 

It  must  be  short  enough  to  be  read. 

It  must  be  long  enough  to  convince. 

First  of  all,  you  must  know  just  what  will  hit  the  customer  in  the 
eye — what  facts  will  strike  home  to  his  heart.  This  you  can  find  out 
only  by  experiment — by  talking  to  customers,  by  writing  to  customers 
along  this  line  and  along  that  line,  till  you  find  out  what  they  want. 
Just  keep  hammering  away  until  you  know  what  the  points  are  that 
make  a  customer  give  up  an  .order. 

Work  and  work  to  find  the  phrases  that  will  make  the  heart  tingle. 
When  I  discovered  the  phrase  "How  to  Write  Letters  that  Pull"  I  had 
put  $5,000  in  my  pocket.  The  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  paid  $1,000  in 
cash  for  the  name  "Black  Diamond  Express"  for  their  through  train 
to  New  York.  The  word  "Uneeda"  as  applied  to  biscuit  put  the  National 
Biscuit  Company  on  Easy  street. 

In  my  System  of  Analysis  you  will  read  what  the  logical  arrange- 
ment of  a  sales  letter  should  be.  Unless  you  follow  that  order  you  are 
sure  to  get  off  the  road  and  find  yourself  upset  in  the  ditch. 

Then  there  are  two  other  considerations,  (1)  you  must  get  your 
letter  read,  which  usually  demands  a  short  letter,  and  (2)    you  must 


OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP  197 

produce  convictiou  that  will  result  in  an  order,  and  that  means  a  long 
letter.  How  are  j'ou  going  to  put  a  long  letter  into  a  short  one?  The 
short  letter  may  be  read  by  many,  but  none  will  buy.  The  few  who 
read  the  long  letter  may  buy,  but  not  enough  will  read  it.  The  solution 
is  not  writing  short  letters,  but  getting  long  letters  read — that  is,  letters 
that  are  long  enough,  but  never  longer  than  just  enough. 

The  secret  is  the  emphasis  indicated  in  the  preceding  lesson.  Begin 
with  a  phrase  or  sentence  that  is  sure  to  get  the  interest  of  the  reacler 
because  it  refers  to  something  he  already  knows  or  has  been  thinking 
about.  No  man  will  ever  bite  at  an  idea  that  is  new  to  him.  It  takes 
time  for  new  ideas  to  sink  in.  But  if  you  can  find  an  idea  he  has 
already  thought  out  himself  to  the  point  where  he  wants  something, 
you  catch  him  on  his  weak  side. 

If  starting  with  that  point  you  follow  the  logical  plan  already 
stated,  MAKING  ONE  FACT  UNDER  EACH  HEAD  STAND  OUT 
xSTliONG  by  some  one  of  the  three  different  kinds  of  emphasis,  so  that 
the  eye  of  the  hurried  reader  will  get  those  emphasized  points  as  he 
glances  down  the  page,  you  have  secured  the  whole  effect  of  the  shortest 
possible  letter,  and  still  can  go  on  and  write  a  long  one  such  as  may  be 
needed  to  close  the  order. 

XII 

LEARNING   TO  WRITE  DIFFERENT  KINDS   OF  LETTERS. 
Dear  Student : 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  most  letter  writers  fall  into  a  habit  of 
writing  all  their  letters  about  so  long.  One  person  is  just  as  brief  as 
he  possibly  can  be.  Seldom  does  he  write  a  letter  more  than  ten  lines 
long.  Another  never  writes  a  letter  under  thirty  lines.  A  few  manage 
all  too  often  to  fill  up  one  page  solid  and  slop  over  on  to  a  second. 

The  real  art  of  letter  writing  lies  in  knowing  what  kind  of  letter 
each  case  demands.  Will  a  two-line  letter  satisfy  the  person  who 
receives  it?  For  heaven's  sake,  do  not  write  more  than  two  lines.  But 
if  a  two-page  letter  is  wanted  by  the  person  you  write  to,  it  is  your 
business  to  be  patient  enough  to  write  the  two  pages  so  he  will  know 
all  he  wants  to  know,  or  ought  to  know. 

If  you  have  the  bad  habit  of  being  wordy,  just  break  it.  If  you 
have  the  bad  habit  of  being  snappy,  vague,  and  too  brief,  BREAK  IT. 
In  all  letters,  short  paragraphs  and  short  sentences  are  a  good  thing. 
They  are  "business  English."  A  page  letter  with  only  one  paragraph 
and  two  or  throe  sentences  is  an  atrocity.  Yet  making  every  sentence  a 
]iaragraith  is  ridiculous.  Some  very  short  paragraphs,  and  some  fairly 
long  make  the  best  combination,  usually. 


198  OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP 

When  you  know  you  have  a  possible  customer's  attention  and  in- 
terest, it  is  foolish  to  use  the  devices  of  brevity  or  emphasis  which  are 
intended  merely  to  get  that  interest.  Where  they  might  please  the 
man  who  had  not  thought  about  the  subject  before,  and  lead  him  into 
an  interest,  they  would  only  annoy  the  man  who  had  an  interest  and 
wanted  something  more  detailed.  If  a  man  is  paying  no  attention  you 
"holler"  at  him;  if  he  is  listening  he  likes  to  have  your  voice  just  as 
low  and  soft  as  possible.  Capital  letters  and  underscores  are  tji^o- 
graphical  screams ;  and  while  in  a  turbulent  uproar  you  must  scream  if 
you  want  attention,  nothing  is  more  repulsive  than  the  habit  of  talking 
loud  or  writing  loud  all  the  time. 

Learn  to  modulate  your  voice,  learn  to  modulate  your  style,  just 
so  you  reach  the  spot  but  no  more. 

Often  in  school  boys  talk  in  a  big  harsh  voice,  and  girls  talk  in  a 
low,  timid  voice.  So  in  letter  writing,  boys  are  likely  to  be  coarse  and  a 
little  rough,  and  girls  altogether  too  quiet.  Girls  answer  inquiries 
nicely  if  they  think  far  enough  to  cover  all  the  points ;  and  boys  or  men 
write  the  best  sales  letters,  in  which  artful  screaming  is  demanded. 
But  why  shouldn't  each  learn  both  arts,  and  learn  to  talk  and  write 
in  loud  voices  or  low  voices  as  occasion  demands?  It  is  merely  a 
matter  of  training. 

XIII 

CULTIVATING  BUSINESS  IMAGINATION. 
Dear  Student : 

You  will  never  become  a  good  business  letter  writer  unless  you 
can  actually  see  the  person  to  whom  you  write,  sitting  by  your  desk, 
so  that  you  write  as  you  would  talk  face  to  face. 

I  have  spoken  a  great  deal  about  knowing  the  customer.  Nothing 
will  help  so  much  as  the  habit  of  visualizing  him,  so  that  you  really  do 
see  him  (with  your  eyes  shut  if  not  with  t:bem  open),  so  that  you  feel 
his  presence. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  most  young  people  like  you  lack  this  faculty 
of  imagination.  There  is  also  no  doubt  that  you  can  cultivate  it  if 
you  will  make  a  systematic  effort. 

In  the  schools  imagination  is  supposed  to  be  figuring  out  all  about 
something  you  don't  actually  know  anything  about.  I  call  that  guessing. 
If  there  is  anything  that  is  condemnable  in  business,  it  is  the  habit 
of  guessing.  IN  BT^SINESS  YOTT  MT^ST  KNOW  WHAT  YOU  ARE 
DOING  or  you  are  a  failure.  Absolute  knowledge  is  needed  nowhere 
else  so  much  as  it  is  in  business,  and  especially  in  writing  letters,  ad- 
vertisements, etc.  The  reason  why  so  much  matter  sent  out  fails 
is  that  it  is  based  on  guesswork  and  not  on  knowledge. 


OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP  199 

The  business  imagination  I  speak  of  is  just  tlie  opposite  of  the  habit 
of  guessing.  It  is  learning  to  know  jour  man  so  well  that  you  can 
actually  see  him,  even  when  he  isn't  there.  But  you  will  probably  see 
better  with  your  eyes  closed  than  with  them  open.  The  person  with  a 
good  imagination  sees  all  right  with  his  eyes  shut. 

When  you  begin  to  get  this  imagination  developed,  you  will  begin 
to  write  letters  as  if  you  were  talking  to  a  man  in  a  confidential  tone. 
You  get  personal.  You  speak  to  him  as  "you"  and  refer  to  yourself 
as  "I"  or  "we."  You  begin  to  feel  that  confidential  talky  tone.  You  do 
not  put  a  lot  of  "scenery"  into  them,  because  if  you  can  see  your  man 
you  know  he  doesn't  care  for  that.  You  give  him  what  he  wants,  not 
what  you  figure  out  theoretically  is  a  good  line  of  letter  talk  for  him. 

There  is  a  great  ceal  in  being  able  to  put  a  helpful  personal  tone 
into  a  letter.  You  can't  do  it  unless  you  would  naturally  be  helpful  to 
the  real  person.  Girls,  especially,  like  to  be  coldly  impersonal  in  their 
business  letters;  but  that  is  a  mistake,  and  once  they  set  out  to  be 
personal  they  sometimes  go  to  extremes  and  become  offensively  familiar. 

XIV 

EXTHUSIAM— GREATEST  OF  ALL  SALESMEN. 
Dear  Student: 

Cultivating  the  imagination  is  the  first  step  toward  cultivating  the 
greatest  of  all  letter  writing  qualities,  enthusiasim;  because  no  one  can 
be  enthusiastic  toward  some  one  he  never  saw  and  can't  even  imagine. 
But  when  he  sees  the  man.  likes  him.  and  knows  exactly  what  he  ought 
to  do,  there  is  a  fair  chance  that  enthusiasm  will  grow  till  it  amounts  to 
something. 

The  ordinary  letter  writer,  especially  the  employee,  deals  with  cus- 
tomers on  the  basis  of  a  machine — he  hands  out  the  facts  and  leaves 
them  to  be  taken  or  not  taken  as  the  customer  is  inclined.  But  the 
ordinary  man  doesn't  know  what  he  wants.  He  half  likes  this,  he  half 
likes  that,  but  he  hasn't  the  money  to  buy  them  all.  Which  does  he 
buy?    Why,  the  one  about  which  somebody  makes  him  enthusiastic. 

I  believe  there  is  a  great  deal  more  in  working  the  customer  up 
to  buy  something  in  your  line  than  to  buy  your  particular  product.  If 
you  are  the  person  to  get  him  into  the  buying  mood,  you  are  pretty  sure 
to  have  his  trade. 

Getting  a  man  up  to  the  buying  point  is  a  very  personal  sort  of 
rndertaking.  You've  got  to  talk  to  him  like  a  Dutch  uncle.  You  must 
make  him  feel  what  he  is  losing,  you  must  fire  his  imagination  for  what 
he  might  have,  you  must  count  all  his  profits  for  him  penny  by  penny, 
you  must  tell  him  glowing  stories  of  what  others  have  done. 


200  OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP 

If  you  are  a  cold-blooded  sort  of  a  person  yourself,  it  will  not  be  easy 
to  write  enthusiastic  letters.  Yet  many  and  many  a  person  can  write  an 
enthusiastic  letter  who  wouldn't  have  the  courage  to  make  an  en- 
thusiastic talk.  And  enthusiasm  can  certainly  be  cultivated  just  like 
imagination. 

To  be  enthusiastic  in  a  letter,  you  must  work  yourself  up  to  feeling 
enthusiastic  within  your  own  heart.  You  must  select  something  you 
really  believe  in.  You  must  borrow  the  words  of  enthusiasm  of  others 
who  have  used  the  goods  and  made  a  success  with  them.  Talk  with  the 
outside  salesmen  who  are  getting  good  business,  talk  with  concerns  that 
use  the  goods  and  try  to  find  out  why  they  like  them.  Go  systematically 
about  collecting  the  enthusiasm  of  every  one  who  has  anything  to  do  with 
these  goods,  and  then  squeeze  it  and  make  it  boil  within  yourself  till 
you  feel  as  if  you  could  turn  the  world  upside  down.  When  you  get 
into  that  mood,  just  let  yourself  go  in  your  letters. 


XV 

HANDLING  DIFFERENT  BUSINESSES. 
Dear  Student : 

I  have  outlined  to  you  the  general  principles  of  writing  pulling 
letters  which  will  really  get  business.  I  now  want  to  give  you  some 
special  suggestions  as  to  special  kinds  of  business. 

Every  business  is  clififerent  from  every  other  business;  but  certain 
things  are  always  the  same.  You  must  appeal  to  human  nature  and 
that  is  pretty  much  the  same  in  all  businesses.  If  you  learn  to  handle 
human  nature  in  one  business  so  you  can  make  a  success  of  it,  you  can 
be  pretty  sure  to  handle  it  successfully  in  any  business.  Of  course 
there  are  several  classes  of  customers;  but  in  my  book  on  advertis- 
ing I  have  pretty  fully  illustrated  the  ways  of  appealing  to  these 
different  classes,  such  as  dealers,  retail  cutomers,  women.  These  dif- 
ferences in  customers  I  wish  to  emphasize  in  this  and  the  next  few 
personal  letters  I  shall  send  you.  You  should  have  clearly  in  mind  the 
best  methods  of  appealing  to  these  large  general  classes,  so  the  differ- 
ences will  be  very  clear  in  your  mind. 

These  great  classes  are  (1)  retail  customers,  (2)  dealers,  and  (3) 
specialty  buyers. 

Retail  customers  are  nearly  always  local,  so  they  can  go  to  the  store 
and  see  what  they  are  going  to  buy.  All  letters  and  advertisements  for 
this  class  should  be  aimed  at  MAKING  THEM  COME,  and  alwaj's 
they  should  be  told,  "Come  to  the  store !  Come  to  the  store !"  It  helps  a 
great  deal  to  have  something  that  excites  curiosity — a  sensational  bar- 
gain, some  spectacle  such  as  a  great  painting,  a  model  of  a  steamship, 


OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP  201 

a  copy  of  the  gown  the  Czarhia  of  Russia  wore,  or  what  not.  If  your 
letters  or  advertising  get  them  to  come  to  the  store,  your  responsibility 
ceases  and  the  retail  clerks  are  expected  to  sell  them.  Customers  will 
often  buy  a  great  many  things  not  advertised  at  all,  simply  because 
when  they  are  once  in  the  store  and  see  something  they  want,  they  will 
buy  it.  So  it  pays  to  advertise  bargains  on  which  there  is  no  profit 
at  all,  just  to  get  the  customers  to  come  in,  depending  on  them  to  buy 
enough  regular  goods  on  which  there  is  a  profit  to  make  it  pay. 

Dealers,  who  are  sought  by  wholesalers  and  manufacturers,  are 
entirely  different.  They  seldom  or  never  come  to  you ;  but  you  must 
go  to  them.    Everything  must  be  very  short,  very  sharp,  and  very  clear.. 

The  specialty  buyer — who  buys  a  set  of  books,  or  takes  a  course 
in  a  school,  or  buys  some  land,  or  some  stock  or  bonds — usually  has  to  be 
picked  out  by  some  kind  of  magazine  or  newspaper  advertising,  and 
once  these  names  are  obtained  as  prospects  they  must  be  followed  up 
by  agents'  letters  and  circulars. 


XVI 

HOW  TO  HANDLE  DEALERS. 
Dear  Student: 

The  average  wholesaler  or  manufacturer  gets  out  a  big  general 
catalogue  showing  pictures  of  his  goods  and  prices,  with  such  technical 
description  as  the  dealer  needs  to  know.  He  sends  that  out  once  or  twice 
a  year,  and  gets  his  orders  from  personal  calls.  As  his  circulars  and 
letters  don't  get  many  orcTers,  he  depends  on  them  very  little.  Here  is 
a  place  where  the  fine  art  of  writing  letters  that  pull  comes  in,  and  the 
person  who  learns  that  art  and  begins  to  develop  orders  from  letters 
sent  out  from  the  office  is  sure  to  be  appreciated,  for  it  usually  happens 
that  if  you  find  out  how  to  get  orders  by  letter,  you  get  them  at  far 
less  cost.  You  depend  on  getting  one  good  order  from  a  hundred  letters 
where  the  traveling  man  expects  to  get  one  good  order  from  two  or 
three  calls — that  is,  you  have  to  send  out  letters  by  the  thousand  to 
start  up  inquiries ;  but  conscious  art  applied  to  answering  the  inquiries 
that  come  in  day  by  day  will  undoubtedly  close  up  a  much  larger  pro- 
portion of  business  from  those  letters.  So  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to 
answer  the  current  inquiries  with  something  like  salesmanship  so  as  to 
get  more  orders  from  them.  If  you  learn  how  to  do  that  you  have  the 
basis  for  starting  some  work  on  circular  letters  sent  out  by  the  thousand. 

Now  in  handling  correspondence  in  a  wholesale  or  manufacturing 
business,  the  first  difficulty  you  have  to  face  is  that  a  long  line  is  being 
sold  with  hundreds  of  items,  and  you  can't  talk  about  all  of  those  items 
at  one  time. 


202  OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP 

As  in  retail  advertising  you  pick  out  certain  bargains  to  attract 
customers,  so  in  a  wliolesale  line  you  liave  to  put  all  your  salesmanship 
upon  single  specialties,  depending  on  the  fact  that  if  a  dealer  will  buy 
the  specialty,  he  will  probably  become  interested  in  the  line  even  though 
you  say  nothing  about  it.  You  kill  the  force  of  your  talk  just  the 
moment  you  begin  to  harp  on  generalities  instead  of  special  things. 
Those  things  may  be  very  slight  and  comparatively  unimportant,  but 
they  should  be  something  others  do  not  have  in  just  the  form  you  offer. 

The  only  difference  between  letters  sent  out  to  educate  dealers  on 
the  talking  points  of  your  business  and  those  sent  out  to  get  actual 
mail  orders,  is  that  in  mail  order  letters  you  ask  for  specific  orders,  and 
ask  hard,  if  possible  offering  some  slight  premium  to  a  new  dealer  to 
send  a  certain  trial  order  within  a  week  or  ten  days.  Letters  to  new 
dealers  should  be  very  sharp  and  strong;  while  letters  to  old  customers 
should  be  long  enough  to  explain  fully  what  you  have.  Both  kinds  of 
letters  should  be  accompanied  by  a  circular  which  tells  your  sales  story 
fully  in  all  details,  so  that  the  man  who  has  become  interested  by  the 
letter  will  have  the  circular  at  hand  to  tell  him  all  about  your  offering. 


XVII 

MAIL  ORDER  OR  SPECIALTY  ADVERTISING. 
Dear  Student : 

The  third  kind  of  advertising  applies  to  selling  some  one  thing,  like 
a  set  of  books,  or  a  course  in  a  school,  or  a  town  lot,  or  a  farm,  where 
you  first  get  an  inquiry  from  some  one  who  is  interested,  and  then 
follow  up  to  close  an  order. 

The  first  step  is  to  get  the  inquiries.  This  may  be  done  by  a  small 
advertisement  in  a  magazine,  if  inquiries  are  desired  from  all  over  the 
country,  or  by  distributing  a  circular  from  house  to  house  if  local  in- 
quiries are  wanted,  as  for  buying  a  city  lot.  The  classified  columns 
of  newspapers  may  also  be  used;  but  usually  the  circulars  delivered 
from  office  to  office  or  house  to  house  will  get  more  results. 

Once  you  get  the  names,  the  principal  thing  is  to  make  everything 
clear,  and  convince  by  offering  proof.  Good  circular  matter,  that  is  full 
and  explicit,  is  very  necessary  to  close  orders ;  and  proof  of  some  kind 
is  almost  equally  necessary.  Then  there  must  be  an  easy  method  of 
ordering — an  order  card  ready  to  bo  signed. 

There  is  first  of  all  a  catalogue  or  circular  with  a  long  form  letter 
sent  out  to  all  inquiries,  and  usually  from  five  to  ten  follow-up  letters. 
If  you  want  to  prove  your  ability,  perhaps  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to 
watch  the  returns  from  the  different  follow-up  letters.  It  will  usually 
be  found  that  certain  letters  in  any  secies  bring  few  if  any  returns — 


OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP  203 

in  fact,  are  just  as  well  dropped  out  of  the  series,  but  have  been  kept 
in  because  uo  one  looked  into  the  matter  closely  enough  to  see  the  fact 
that  they  did  not  pull. 

The  next  thing  to  do  is  to  take  up  the  inquiries  individually  and 
ask  some  straight  personal  questions  of  the  prospect  which  will  make 
him  tell  you  something  of  his  situation  and  views.  The  way  to  sell 
anybody  is  to  find  out  what  his  ideas  are,  and  then  show  him  how  your 
product  fits  into  those  ideas  of  his.  This  clear,  full,  honest  explanation, 
with  a  good  touch  of  enthusiasm,  will  sell  many,  many  high-priced  sets 
of  books,  or  school  courses,  or  farms,  or  whatever  it  may  be.  And  it  is 
the  best  possible  education  toward  preparing  some  form  letters  which 
will  be  winners. 

This  is  the  most  difficult  kind  of  mail  order  salesmanship,  a  kind  in 
which  you  must  be  quite  an  expert  to  get  any  results  at  all  worth  men- 
tioning. But  it  offers  a  splendid  training  for  all  other  kinds  of  adver- 
tising of  whatever  nature,  and  also  for  personal  salesmanship. 

XVIII 

HANDLING  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 
Dear  Student: 

I  want  to  talk  to  j'ou  a  little  in  this  letter  upon  the  subject  of 
the  importance  of  understanding  office  salesmanship  in  order  to  handle 
all  other  kinds  of  correspondence. 

Office  salesmanship  requires  a  much  more  careful  knowledge  of 
your  customers  than  anything  else  I  know,  and  if  you  go  into  the  selling 
end  a  little  you  will  find  out  so  many  things  about  your  customers  thai 
you  will  understand  far  better  how  to  collect  backward  accounts  for 
example,  how  to  adjust  claims,  how  to  answer  inquiries,  how  to  give 
directions  to  salesmen,  etc.,  etc. 

A  bad  account  may  not  be  paid  because  the  customer  does  not  have 
the  money,  or  it  may  be  because  he  is  sore  at  the  firm  on  account  of 
the  waj'  he  has  been  handled  in  a  sale.  Now  if  you  know  how  he  was 
sold,  you  can  follow  the  process  along  till  you  find  out  what  is  the  matter 
with  him,  and  your  problem  is  to  start  in  and  re-sell  him  so  as  to 
straighten  out  his  mental  knot.  The  same  reasoning  applies  to  an 
adjustment.  Also  it  applies  to  a  simple,  clear  explanation;  for  every 
man  knows  certain  things,  and  other  things  he  wants  to  know,  and 
unless  you  study  as  a  salesman  must  study,  you  never  have  a  clear 
idea  of  what  the  customer  knows  and  what  he  does  not  know,  and 
without  that  knowledge  you  cannot  explain  to  him  so  he  will  clearly 
understand  it.  A  clear  explanation  is  one  of  the  most  important  things 
in  advertising,  and  it  is  the  one  fundamental  requirement  in  railroad  cor- 


204  OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP 

respondence,  for  example.  The  superior  must  ejiplain  an  order  (when 
he  writes  a  bulletin)  so  more  or  less  ignorant  brakemen  or  firemen  or 
laborers  will  understand  it  at  a  glance  and  do  correctly  the  thing  that 
is  wanted.  Only  the  trained  office  salesman  usually  has  had  much 
training  on  this  extremely  clear  and  well  emphasized  stating  of  facts. 

The  great  difficulty  in  correspondence  in  general  is  that  you  do  not 
know  the  attitude  of  mind  of  the  person  you  write  to,  you  do  not  know 
what  he  knows,  what  train  of  thought  he  is  following,  and  therefore 
what  you  should  say  to  touch  him  in  exactly  the  right  spot. 

Salesmanship  is  a  study  of  the  customer  and  also  a  study  of  ways 
to  make  him  respond.  It  offers  a  regular  system  for  studying  the 
customer  and  the  practical  effect  of  words  upon  him,  and  there  is  no 
other  system  in  existence  which  has  been  developed  anywhere  nearly 
as  fully  for  studying  the  customer  and  the  effect  of  words  with  reference 
to  these  other  phases  of  business  correspondence. 

XIX 

SELLING  YOUR  OWN  SERVICES. 

Dear  Student: 

The  principles  of  office  salesmanship  apply  equally  well  to  many 
special  forms  of  business  which  do  not  seem  to  involve  selling  anything, 
as  for  example  a  doctor's  profession,  the  business  of  a  commission  mer- 
chant whose  desire  is  not  to  sell  but  to  get  consignments  that  he  may 
sell,  etc. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  both  the  doctor  and  the  commission  merchant 
really  have  for  sale,  not  merchandise  of  course,  but  services.  The 
doctor  is  hampered  by  the  code  of  medical  ethics,  so  called,  which 
prohibits  direct  advertising;  but  for  all  that  he  will  never  have  any 
business  unless  he  goes  systematically  about  getting  it  through  some 
form  of  publicity,  and  he  needs  an  even  more  complete  knowledge  of 
the  principles  of  salesmanship  so  that  he  may  build  up  his  business 
without  trampling  on  the  code.  And  the  income  of  the  commission 
merchant  depends  precisely  on  getting  people  to  let  him  have  their 
products  to  sell  at  the  established  market  price.  These  things  they 
get  according  to  their  ability  to  show  the  effectiveness  of  their  services. 

The  principles  of  office  salesmanship  are  applicable  directly  to  the 
work  of  finding  a  job. 

Just  try  to  analyze  yourself,  supposing  you  want  a  job.  What 
qualities  have  you  that  others  in  your  field  do  not  have?  Suppose 
you  are  a  stenographer  and  a  bookkeo]^or  and  have  taken  this  course 
in  office  salesmanship.  As  against  a  mere  stenographer,  you  have  two 
immediately   apparent   advantages,    you    know   bookkeeping   and   office 


OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP  205 

salesmanship.  But  suppose  the  other  person,  your  competitor,  whoever 
he  or  she  may  be,  has  the  same  points  to  claim.  Go  carefully  over  your 
ability  in  each  of  these  three  lines.  As  a  stenographer,  can  jou  si)ell 
particularly  well?  Are  you  neater  in  handling  the  typewriter?  Are 
you  more  speedy?  Have  jou  more  independence  and  initiative?  You 
can  ask  similar  questions  in  regard  to  each  of  your  other  branches. 

Having  found  out  what  you  have  that  others  do  not  have,  you  look 
around  to  see  how  you  can  prove  your  claims.  You  get  testimonials. 
You  go  to  your  friends  and  ask  them  what  thej'  think  of  your  ability  on 
this  point,  or  on  that,  whatever  you  want  to  prove.  You  don't  just 
ask  them  for  a  testimonial :  you  set  out  to  collect  proof  upon  just  the 
lK)ints  you  wish  to  demonstrate. 

Finally  you  try  to  impress  your  personality  by  making  the  pros- 
pective employer  feel  like  wanting  you.  It  is  usually  the  clever  salesman 
who  gets  the  best  jobs  most  quickly. 


XX 

A  FINAL  WORD. 

Dear  Student: 

We  have  now  come  to  the  final  lesson  in  this  course,  and  I  sin- 
cerel;^  hope  it  has  been  of  real  value  to  you;  but  it  may  be  of  interest 
if  I  try  to  tell  you  just  how  I  have  attempted  to  teach  you,  and  what 
you  may  suppose  has  been  the  result. 

A  very  few  are  exceedingly  industrious,  and  those  have  no  doubt 
prepared  all  the  lessons  assigned.  In  doing  so  they  have  got  the  ad- 
vantage of  personal  practice  which  otherwise  they  have  missed.  It  is 
not  too  late  to  begin  right  now  to  do  the  work  and  get  automatically  the 
good  that  will  result. 

But  the  majority  work  hard  all  day,  come  home  at  night  tired  out, 
and  lack  the  direct  stimulus  to  do  formal  lesson  work  such  as  they 
were  compelled  to  do  in  school.  There  is  a  \^ide  difference  between  being 
driven  in  a  school,  and  working  for  your  own  education. 

But  this  course  has  been  a  complete  success  for  many  who  have 
never  prepared  any  lessons  at  all.  I'nlike  most  residence  schools,  this 
personal-appeal  method  works  on  the  principle  of  drawing  out,  not  of 
compelling.  I  have  been  trying  to  plant  live  germs  of  ideas  week  by 
week  all  over  your  mind.  Those  little  seeds  need  only  the  warm  sun 
of  favorable  conditions  to  grow  and  bear  fruit.  Possibly  conditions 
have  not  been  favorable,  and  those  seeds  still  lie  dormant.  But  they 
are  not  dead,  though  apparently  forgotten.  Just  the  minute  you  get  a 
job  where  salesmanship  is  required,  you  will  find  it  like  a  shower  of 
warm  rain  and  a  flood  of  sunshine  on  the  sown  field  of  your  mind, 


206  OFFICE  SALESMANSHIP 

and  the  germs  of  ideas  I  have  been  planting  from  week  to  week  will 
grow  and  flourish  marvelously.  I  have  proved  that  over  and  over 
again.  My  most  successful  students  have  often  taken  but  two  or  three 
personal  lessons. 

Personally,  I  believe  that  all  education  would  be  a  hundred  times 
more  effective  if  it  were  planned  on  the  principle  of  drawing  out  through 
the  stimulus  of  interest.  Everything  a  child  learns  in  an  ordinary  school 
in  a  year  could  be  taught  just  as  well  in  three  months  if  this  stimu- 
lating method  were  used  instead  of  the  slave-driving  method.  We  re- 
member what  interests  us,  but  persistently  forget  what  we  learn  as 
a  duty  or  under  compulsion.  Five  lessons  have  completely  transformed 
the  letter  style  of  many  a  business  man,  where  a  course  of  one  hundred 
lessons  in  a  school  has  failed  to  show  any  effect. 

The  one  thing  I  care  about  for  results  in  your  case  is  whether  you 
have  faith  in  me.  If  you  have,  you  have  already  got  many  times  the 
money  cost  of  this  course. 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM  207 

APPENDIX  D— PART  1 

The  Simple  Foundation  Principles  of 

Looseleaf  and  Card  Systems 

(Copyright  19(9,  by  Sberwin  Cody) 
Prefatory. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  no  book  on  looseleaf  or  card  systems  is 
available — at  least  a  book  on  the  general  fundamental  principles;  nor 
have  1  been  able  to  discover  a  nia.^azine  article  covering  these  principles. 
Everything  in  existence  consists  of  individual  studies  of  systems  for  in- 
dividual businesses,  and  the  mass  of  these  is  so  enormous  that  the 
ordinary  man  is  bewildered  when  he  sets  out  to  devise  a  system  for 
himself. 

The  chief  source  of  information  on  looseleaf  and  card  systems  is 
the  sales  force  of  the  cabinet  companies,  which  want  to  sell  every  man 
as  high-priced  an  outfit  as  possible,  whether  it  serves  his  purpose  best 
or  not. 

I  wanted  a  simple  looseleaf  system  for  a  special  branch  of  my 
business,  and  one  of  the  leading  looseleaf  companies  showed  me  the 
simplest  outfit  they  had.  cost  $17.  The  price  seemed  to  me  high  for  what 
I  got,  but  the  whole  thii:g  was  so  cumbersome  I  could  not  use  it  any 
way.  I  was  able  to  buy  a  leather-covered  looseleaf  binder  with  guides 
for  $1.05,  and  in  place  of  the  3x5%  leaves  (bond  paper)  costing  20c  a 
hundred,  I  got  3x5  slips  of  bond  paper,  had  them  punched  at  the  back, 
total  cost  COc  a  thousand,  and  was  able  to  file  these  in  my  card  drawers 
when  they  were  taken  out  of  the  looseleaf  binder  as  dead. 

This  pamphlet  is  accompanied  by  a  box  of  sample  cards  showing 
eighteen  actual  systems,  which  I  have  selected  as  types  of  all  systems 
under  the  title  of  "Compendium  of  All  Card  Systems."  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages  I  shall  briefly  state  the  leading  principles,  which  every 
man  should  have  clearly  in  mind  in  installing  any  looseleaf  or  card 
system  if  he  wishes  to  get  MAXIMUM  EFFICIENCY  AND  ECONOMY 
of  operation,  and  at  the  same  time  I  show  the  reader  how  and  where  to 
iTot  liis  systems  at  a   minimum  of  cost. 

The  card  forms  are  also  reproduced  herewith,  and  will  be  found  to 
have  form  numbers  corresiK»nding  to  the  numbers  of  the  successive  sec- 
tions in  this  appendix.  SHERWIN  CODY. 


208  LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 

1.    Mailing  Lists. 

It  was  thought  for  a  time  that  mailing  lists  were  best  written  out 
ou  cards,  aud  ditferent-colored  cards  were  used  to  distinguish  different 
classes  of  names  that  might  be  in  the  same  list.  Experience  has  shown 
that  a  looseleaf  book  of  ordinary  letter  size,  thirty  lines  to  the  page 
besides  heading,  two  lines  for  each  address,  is  the  best  for  several 
reasons : 

1.  It  economizes  space  and  weight.  A  large  list  on  cards  takes 
considerable  room,  and  is  cumbersome  to  carry  about.  This  is  partic- 
ularly so  when  the  list  has  to  be  shipped  out  of  town. 

2.  It  costs  less  to  write  a  list  on  sheets  than  on  cards. 

3.  It  costs  less  to  address  a  list  from  sheets,  since  there  are  fifteen 
addresses  on  each  page,  all  of  which  can  be  addressed  before  the  leaf 
is  turned. 

But  there  is  a  still  more  important  reason.  At  the  right-hand  side 
are  to  be  found  narrow  columns  for  classifications  of  the  names.  There 
are  three  columns  for  ratings.  There  are  various  columns  for  different 
kinds  of  bu.siness.  The  classification  must  be  made  by  each  man  for 
his  own  particular  needs,  with  the  view  that  his  circularizing  will  be 
far  more  effective  if  he  address  a  definite  class,  with  a  definite  talk  direct 
to  that  class,  instead  of  sending  a  general  talk  to  a  general  list.  For  ex- 
ample, in  the  furniture  business,  one  line  of  talk  applies  to  cities,  another 
to  small  towns ;  one  to  dealers  rated  high,  another  to  dealers  rated  low, 
still  another  to  dealers  with  medium  ratings.  And  so  on.  Each  man 
must  study  that  out  for  himself. 

4.  If  a  check  mark  is  placed  in  the  proper  column  opposite  the 
name,  the  classification  will  cost  little  or  nothing  in  the  making  of  the 
list,  while  any  one  class  can  be  picked  out  and  addressed  by  itself  with 
practically  as  great  speed  as  if  the  other  names  were  not  in  the  list 
at  all.  The  addresser  fixes  his  eye  on  a  certain  column  and  looks  only 
for  the  checkmark,  catching  it  almost  at  a  glance,  and  never  so  much 
as  looking  at  the  other  names.  Thus  one  large  list  may  contain  six 
or  seven  lists,  the  large  lists  cost  much  less  to  make,  the  inconvenience 
of  having  many  lists  is  avoided,  and  yet  each  separate  division  of  the 
large  list  can  be  handled  just  as  conveniently  as  if  it  were  a  list 
by  itself. 

5.  Only  two  address  lines  are  required  even  when  street  addresses 
in  cities  are  to  be  added,  for  in  that  case  the  name  of  the  city  is  written 
at  the  top  of  the  sheet,  since  there  will  always  be  a  large  number  of 
addresses  from  a  single  city.  Street  addresses  are  usually  inserted  in 
cities  of  100,000  and  over.  If  this  is  not  done,  the  postoffice  is  likely 
to  refuse  to  deliver  third-class  mail.     No  trouble  is  likely  to  be  ex- 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 


209 


cmr 

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Pop. 

O.P. 

Ptg. 

Oept. 

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NAME 

ADDRESS 
1 

MAMC 

ADDRESS 

2 

NAME 

ADDRESS 
3 

NAME 

ADDRESS 

4 

NAME 

ADDRESS 

8 

NAME 

ADDRESS 
.8 

NAME 

AOORCS* 

7 

NAME 

ADDRESS 

a 

NAME 

AODRCSS 

9 

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ADDRESS 
10 

NAME 

ADDRESS 
11 

NAME 

ADDRESS 
12 

NAME 

.  ADDRESS 
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NAME 

ADDRESS 
14 

NAME 

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Form  1 


210 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEAl 


perienced  in  smaller  cities  if  street  addresses  are  not  given.  See  Form  1. 
Binders  for  lists  are  easily  made  of  ordinary  binders'  board  or  press 
board.  The  back  cover  is  stiff.  The  front  cover  has  a  hinge  %  inch  from 
the  back,  made  simply  by  cutting  the  board  from  top  to  bottom  and 
gluing  a  strip  of  cloth  to  the  back  and  to  the  front.  Holes  are  then 
punched  %  inch  from  the  back,  corresponding  to  the  holes  punched 
in  the  printed  paper  address  forms,  and  a  shoe  string  used.  If  tele- 
scopic eyelets  such  as  I  have  in  my  Form  Paragraph  Letter  Writer  are 
used,  the  shoe  string  will  be  as  convenient  as  the  stationary  rings,  which 
take  up  a  good  deal  of  room  and  prevent  books  from  lying  flat. 

2.  Following  Up  Prospects. 
For  following  up  prospects,  a  card  system  is  best.  A  common  form 
of  card  for  this  purpose  is  shown  on  this  page.  It  illustrates,  however, 
the  useless  complication  toward  which  systematizers  and  business  men 
tend,  for  I  have  found  little  or  no  occasion  for  checking  into  a  card  of 
this  sort  either  "Replies"  or  any  considerable  number  of  orders.  Once 
a  letter  is  received  the  follow-up  should  be  so  radically  changed  that 


13      3     4 

NAME 

6    e    )    e 

0     10    U    12 

13    14 

IS    IS    11    18    U   20    a    23 

BUSINESS 

23 

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file  no 

TOWN                                                                                                         R.  R                EXP 

RAIiNG 

SOUItCE 

MAILED 

REPLIED 

ORDERS 

llItRATURE 

LtTTERS 

SPECIAL 

DATE 

REMARKS 

DATE 

NO. 

,    AMOUNT 

MEMO. 

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WPeRlAL  METHOOS-rORM 


it  is  better  to  write  a  distinct  card,  and  of  course  stop  the  regular 
follow-up. 

A  much  simpler  and  better  form  is  Form  2,  which  gives  space  to 
indicate  what  special  lines  the  prospect  ought  to  be  interested  in  if 
the  follow-up  is  to  be  specialized,  and  sufficient  lines  and  spaces  for 
entering  the  numbers  of  successive  circulars  and  follow-up  letters,  with 
another  line  for  unusual  notations. 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM  211 

3.    Guides  for  Follow-Up. 

If  cards  like  No.  2  are  used,  the  cards  may  be  arranged  with  a 
reguh\r  alphabetical  iudex,  and  the  dates  for  follow-up  letters  indicated 
by  clips  at  the  top.  If  there  are  many  cards,  this  is  the  best  way,  for 
any  card  can  be  found  instantly  when  a  reply  or  order  c-omes  in. 

A  good  way,  however,  is  to  allow  prospects  to  accumulate  for  one 
or  two  weeks,  when  the  same  letter  is  sent  to  a  bunch  called  "1st 
Follow-up."  This  can  be  written  on  blank  guide  cards.  When  this  letter 
is  written  the  cards  are  simply  moved  forward  to  the  next  space  labeled 
"2nd  Follow-up,"  and  so  on.  This  saves  making  entries  on  the  cards. 
Each  bunch  of  cards  can  be  arranged  in  alphabetical  order,  but  if  a 
reply  comes  in  it  will  be  necessary  to  look  in  several  different  places  to 
find  the  card  if  the  clerk  cannot  remember  in  which  bunch  the  name  is 
to  be  found.  This  system  is  useful  chiefly  when  the  clerk  is  able  to 
remember  practically  all  the  cards,  so  he  knows  in  what  bunch  to  look, 
or  more  especially  when  the  follow-up  is  purely  educational  and  no  re- 
plies are  expected. 

The  ordinary  alphabetical  guides  can  be  bought  in  the  market  at 
small  expense,  but  if  special  guides  are  required,  blanks  can  be  bought 
and  the  index  name  written  in  the  projecting  space  at  the  top.  The 
Sample  File  shows  special  guides  simply  cut  away  on  an  ordinary  paper 
cutter  by  the  printer  who  prints  them.  The  long  guides  running  across 
the  box  are  square-cut  cards  with  the  upper  corners  rounded  on  a  regular 
round-cornering  machine.  The  special  dies  which  leave  talis  at  the  top 
are  expensive,  and  as  the  regular  card  index  people  have  practically 
a  monopoly  of  this  die-cutting  machinery,  the  ordinary  printer  finds  it 
hard  to  get  up  guides  except  by  using  one  of  the  systems  indicated. 

Form  2  has  the  days  of  the  months  printed  across  the  top  and  a 
good  way  of  indicating  the  day  on  which  a  follow-up  letter  should  be 
sent  is  to  place  a  steel  signal  over  the  date.  The  relative  position  of 
this  can  be  guessed  within  a  day  or  two  from  a  mere  glance  at  the 
fil«.    The  clip  comes  in  five  colors. 

Another  good  way  is  to  use  a  file  of  months  and  days  of  the 
month.  If  the  signal  does  not  answer  sufficiently  for  the  days,  number 
guides  from  1  to  31  can  be  used. 

4.    Customers — Looseleaf  and  Card  Ledgers. 

On  a  cash-in-advance  mail  order  proposition,  if  an  order  is  received 
with  cash  and  that  is  the  end  of  it,  the  prospect  card  is  simply  transferred 
to  a  permanent  file  of  customers,  with  alphabetical  guides. 

Only  a  cashbook  is  required,  and  that  is  best  as  a  bound  book. 


212  LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 

I  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  IS  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  is  26  27  »  29  30  31 


State 


Ind, 


Town  P<^yftQf.      mil 


Name GlobQ  Department  Store 

Rating 02 Address       q/q    MT  >      CaSWell 


Prospect  for 


Underwear  line 


Source 

T.ftt 

tpr 

1?.9 

Printed  matter 

/3- 

33# 
33 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

Form  letters 

/ 

Z 

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y 

Remarks         Ask  Mr >   Jolinaon   to   call  next   trip 


Form  2 


Copyright,  1909,  by  Sherwin  Cod) 


Name 


No. 


Address 

Disc. 

Rating 

Limit 

Notes 

Disc,  bills 

Bus.  last  year-No.  orders                                                   Total  $ 

Date 

Item 

Charges 

v/ 

Credits 

Balance 

— 

Form  4 

( 

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od\ 

LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM  213 

No  convenience  is  served  by  using  a  looseleaf  or  card  system  for  a  cash 
account. 

In  a  credit  business,  where  the  customers  are  expected  to  be 
permanent  and  continuous,  the  list  of  customers  is  best  kept  in  connec- 
tion with  the  ledger,  which  should  be  on  cards  or  in  a  looseleaf  book. 

A  suitable  size  for  the  ledger  cards  should  be  selected,  according 
to  the  entries  to  be  made,  the  number  of  entries,  etc.,  etc.  Ledger  cards 
bx5  are  seldom  used  except  when  accounts  are  not  at  all  active.  The 
size  5x8,  on  end,  both  sides  of  the  card  used  (turned  end  for  end),  is 
standard  and  usual. 

As  it  may  be  desirable  to  circularize  customers  from  time  to  time 
from  the  ledger  list,  while  there  is  objection  to  letting  the  ledger  itself 
go  out  of  the  hands  of  the  bookkeeper,  it  is  desirable  to  have  the  pros- 
pect card  or  any  simple  address  card  dropped  in  behind  the  ledger  card. 
If  an  account  is  closed  and  the  bookkeeper  desires  to  have  a  form  letter 
sent  to  the  customer  to  stir  him  up,  he  simply  places  a  small  steel  clip 
on  the  top  of  the  ledger  card,  and  a  boy  goes  over  the  list  and  takes  out 
the  address  cards,  placing  them  in  a  small  card  tray  for  the  purpose, 
and  they  are  addressed,  then  redistributed  behind  the  ledger  cards.  This 
is  easier  than  writing  off  the  names  on  a  sheet  of  paper  each  time. 

The  ledger  card  should  show  on  its  face  a  full  history  of  the  cus- 
tomer, including  his  rating,  credit,  limit  of  credit,  past  history,  etc. 
This  information  is  often  kept  in  a  separate  place,  and  a  great  deal 
of  time  is  spent  in  looking  up,  often  five  minutes  to  a  half  hour, 
whereas  if  it  were  on  the  ledger  card  as  shown  in  Form  4,  a  few 
seconds  would  suffice. 

A  liberal  use  of  carbon  copies  greatly  reduces  the  amount  of  work 
to  be  done  in  handling  orders  and  keeping  accounts.  An  excellent  sys- 
tem is  to  have  a  machine  register  holding  three  rolls  of  paper,  properly 
printed,  with  carbon  paper  held  firmly  between.  When  an  orcer  is  re- 
ceived, the  invoice  to  be  sent  to  the  customer  is  immediately  written  out 
in  triplicate.  Shipping  directions  are  written  on  a  perforated  slip  at 
the  side  or  bottom.  One  carbon  copy  is  sent  to  the  shipping-room,  the 
other  is  sent  to  the  bookkeeper,  and  the  original  is  held  to  be  sent  to 
the  customer  when  the  shipping  carbon  has  been  returned.  The  date  is 
put  on  with  a  dater  and  the  invoice  mailed  to  the  customer.  The  carbon 
copy  sent  back  from  the  shipping-room  is  also  dated  and  is  sent  to  the 
bookkeeping  department,  where  it  is  checked  with  the  other  carbon  copy 
sent  up  when  the  orCer  was  entered,  and  both  can  be  placed  in  the 
ledger  card  file  just  back  of  the  ledger  card.  The  total  is  entered 
on  the  ledger  card.  If  anyone  wants  to  know  anything  about  the  order 
in  any  way  whatever,  there  is  but  one  place  to  look.  Absolutely  every- 
thing except  the  original  correspondence  is  in  one  place. 


214  LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 

If  it  is  desired  that  the  shipping  clerk  do  not  know  the  prices, 
a  piece  of  tin  may  be  used  to  prevent  the  prices  showing  on  his  carbon 
copy. 

This  system  requires  that  the  ledger  cards  and  invoice  blanks  be 
of  the  same  size.  The  shipping  carbon,  being  the  final  copy,  may  be  on 
manila  cardboard,  and  the  thin  paper  first  carbon  sent  to  the  bookkeeping 
department  may  be  destroyed  after  it  has  served  its  purpose  of  check- 
ing ;  or  it  may  be  lightly  pasted  to  the  side  or  top  of  the  manila  shipping 
card,  so  that  thin  paper  slips  will  not  make  trouble  in  the  card  file. 

5.    Bookkeeping  for  Mail  Order  Specialties. 

The  system  just  described  is  well  adapted  to  a  general  wholesale  or 
manufacturing  business.  In  the  case  of  a  mail  order  specialty  where 
credit  is  given,  as  in  case  of  the  sale  of  books,  correspondence  courses, 
medical  treatments,  or  the  like,  only  one  item  is  charged  to  the  cus- 
tomer, who  then  ceases  to  be  a  prospect  for  repeat  business. 

In  my  office  I  circularize  a  list  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  business 
men  to  sell  my  book  How  to  Do  Business  by  Letter  at  $1,  cash  with 
order,  thus  accumulating  say  25,000  names.  When  the  order  comes  in 
I  write  the  address  label  with  a  carbon  copy  on  a  card  or  slip  of  manila 
paper.  The  label  may  have  a  perforated  piece  on  the  side  on  which  the 
name  of  the  book  ordered  is  written.  This  is  usually  done  on  the  type- 
writer. The  carbon  copy  shows  the  title  of  the  book  in  permanent  form, 
and  EXACTLY  HOW  THE  ADDRESS  APPEARS  ON  THE  ORIGINAL 
PACKAGE.  If  the  addressing  clerk  made  a  mistake  in  the  address  I 
can  see  at  a  glance  in  my  office  what  appears  on  the  label  on  the  book 
where  it  lies  undelivered  in  Cincinnati  or  elsewhere.  This  enables  me 
to  trace  shipments  with  such  success  that  I  find  that  I  lose  less  than  one 
book  out  of  4,000. 

These  carbon  copies  of  the  address  labels  of  orders  received  for 
a  $1  book  form  the  list  which  I  circularize  for  my  $10  course,  offering 
credit  of  $1  paid  for  the  book  and  asking  $1  deposit,  while  $8  additional 
is  billed  as  a  credit. 

In  writing  the  invoice  I  use  a  small  billhead  and  keep  a  carbon  copy 
on  a  3x5  slip  of  bond  paper  perforated  for  a  looseleaf  binder.  This  is 
my  ledger  entrj^  and  the  only  one  that  I  have.  The  binder  holds  about 
200  slips,  and  I  have  a  different  binder  for  each  additional  book 
or  specialty.  If  the  number  of  orders  were  very  large,  I  should  prob- 
ably prefer  to  keep  my  3x5  ledger  slips  in  a  card  drawer,  and  might  use 
a  heavier  card.  So  long  as  I  do  not  have  over  200  of  these  accounts 
open  at  one  time,  the  looseleaf  binder  I  find  much  easier  to  handle. 

The  date  of  each  collection  letter  is  indicated  under  its  number. 

When  the  account  has  been  paid,  the  slip  is  taken  out  and  filed 


- 

LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM               215 

Q                        Punch  for  Binder                     Q 

Date 

Name 

Address 

Collection  Letters  -  Dates 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

Form  5 


CopyrighU  1909,  by  Sherwin  Cody 


Subject 

Month 

PERIODICAL 

Key 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

Inq. 

Or. 

Inq. 

Or. 

Inq. 

Or. 

SECOND  HALF 

Key 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

Inq. 

Or. 

Inq. 

Or. 

Inq. 

Or. 

FORM    S 

Copyright,  1909,  bv  Sherwin  Cody 


216  LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 

in  a  card  drawer,  and  forms  a  list  wiiicli  I  circularize  for  my  Complete 
Course  at  |30,  giving  credit  for  $5  for  the  $10  course  already  purchased. 
In  sending  out  the  card  course  I  also  keep  a  carbon  card  showing  the 
actual  address  label.  This  forms  a  duplicate  list  as  well  as  shipping 
record  and  means  of  tracing  shipments. 

6.    Simplified  Instalment  Bookkeeping. 

When  I  get  orders  for  my  Complete  Course  on  the  instalment  plan 
of  $5  down  and  $5  a  month  for  five  months,  and  have  to  send  out  Steps, 
give  Criticisms,  and  keep  accounts  of  collection  letters  for  each  instal- 
ment, I  use  Form  6,  a  front,  h  back. 

These  cards  cost  printed  (on  postcard  manila)  less  than  60c  a 
thousand  and  I  send  them  out  with  all  my  circulars  as  an  order  blank. 
On  receipt  of  the  order  I  use  the  blank  spaces  on  the  back  to  keep 
track  of  the  business  by  the  use  solely  of  a  common  hand  dater  and  a 
pen.  When  the  first  step  is  sent  out  I  stamp  the  date  in  the  space 
after  "Step  1."  When  the  answers  to  that  lesson  come  in  and  I 
correct  the  lesson,  I  stamp  the  date  after  "Criticism  1,"  and  so  on.  "S" 
stands  for  the  special  lessons  on  the  man's  particular  business,  and 
"E"  for  the  Extras  sent  when  the  course  has  been  paid  for  in  full. 
When  an  instalment  is  received  the  date  is  stamped  in  a  space  under 
"Pay."  The  letters  sent  out  for  the  collection  of  each  instalment  are 
indicated  by  small  numbers  written  with  a  pen  after  the  number  of  the 
instalment  to  be  collected  in  the  column  "Col."  or  "Collections." 

Thus  the  entire  record  of  a  complicated  course  is  kept  on  a  3x5 
card  with  the  use  of  only  a  dater  and  writing  with  a  pen  the  numbers 
of  a  few  collection  letters.  Some  people  would  have  a  big  card,  three  or 
four  entries,  and  full  information  about  the  pupil  as  to  who  his  father 
and  mother  are,  where  he  was  born,  how  old  he  is,  where  he  went  to 
school,  etc.  But  what  are  all  these  things  to  me?  I  never  need 
them.  On  this  card  I  have  exactly  what  I  do  need — the  original 
order  and  every  important  fact  in  connection  with  the  entire  transaction 
running  over  six  months  or  a  year. 

The  same  system  may  easily  be  adapted  to  a  piano  instalment  busi- 
ness, or  the  like. 

It  is  advisable  to  use  3x5  cards  for  all  inquiry  blanks  and  order 
forms,  as  they  can  be  filed  so  conveniently  when  received. 

7.    Numerical  Filing  for  Ledger  and  Correspondence. 

It  is  said  that  in  bookkeeping,  tests  have  shown  that  three- fourths 
of  the  bookkeeper's  time  is  used  in  looking  for  the  place  to  make  his 
entry,  while  only  one-fourth  is  used  in  making  the  entry.  The  numer- 
ical system  of  filing  ledger  cards  and  correspondence  ( for  the  two  should 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 


:i7 


Date 

Mr.  Sherwin  Cody 

1411  Security  Building y  Chicago 
Dear  Sir:  I  enclose  $5  as  a  deposit  with  request  that  you  send  me  the  first 
instalments  of  your  Complete  Course  in  Advertising,  Letter  Writing,  and  Office 
Salesmanship,  It  is  understood  that  if  I  choose  to  return  these  within  ten  days 
from  date,  the  $5  deposit  will  be  returned  to  me  promptly  and  in  full.  If  I  do  not 
return  them  within  the  specified  time,  this  approval  order  becomes  a  contract  to 
take  the  entire  course  and  pay  $5  a  month  for  five  months,  or  a  total  of  $30y 
10  per  cent  for  cash  in  advance,  entitling  me  to  correction  of  twenty  lessons  if 

returned  within  a  year,  on  business  of 


Do  you  wish  credit 
of  $5  for  Cody  System 
cards  already 
purchased? , 

Form  6a 


Name- 


Address. 


STEPS 

CRITICISM 

PAY 

1 

12 

1 

11 

1 

2 

13 

2 

12 

2 

3 

14 

3 

13 

3 

4 

15 

4 

14 

4 

5 

16 

5 

15 

5 

6 

17 

6 

16 

COL. 

7 

18 

7 

17 

1 

8 

19 

8 

18 

2 

9 

20 

9 

19 

3 

10 

S 

10 

20 

4 

11 

Form  «b 

E 

5 

218  LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 

always  go  together)  in  many  lines  of  business  will  save  one-half  or  more 
of  the  entire  cost  of  bookkeeping — that  is,  with  the  numerical  system, 
any  bookkeeper  will  be  able  to  do  the  work  of  two  men  under  the  old 
system,  or  more. 

The  numerical  system  is  not  at  all  adapted  for  some  lines  of  busi- 
ness, however.  In  a  mail  order  specialty  business  it  would  be  worse 
than  useless.  It  is  particularly  adapted  to  wh(flesale  and  miscellaneous 
businesses  where  there  is  a  fixed  and  not  too  large  number  of  active 
accounts,  so  that  the  bookkeeper  can  learn  most  of  the  numbers  by  heart 
and  will  not  have  to  look  them  up  in  the  alphabetical  index.  If  he  docs 
not  have  to  refer  to  each  account  often,  so  that  he  gets  the  customer's 
number  fixed  in  mind,  or  the  number  of  accounts  is  so  large  he  cannot 
possibly  remember  them,  the  numerical  system  is  a  nuisance.  It  is 
possible  to  divide  a  large  list  of  customers  up  among  several  bool:- 
keepers,  who  .will  have  entirely  separate  ledgers,  with  only  such  number 
as  they  can  handle  and  remember.  Thus  one  bookkeeper  will  have  all 
customers  whose  names  begin  with  letters  up  to  G,  another  from  H  to  M, 
another  from  N  to  S,  and  a  fourth  from  T  to  Z.  Each  bookkeeper 
is  known  by  his  first  letter — ^A,  H,  N,  T,  and  this  letter  appears  before 
all  his  numbers,  but  each  uses  the  numbers  from  1  up,  and  can  remember 
them  all  in  his  division,  though  not  in  the  other  man's  division. 

Whenever  an  order  comes  in,  the  mail  clerk,  who  must  have  the 
best  memory  of  all,  writes  the  customer's  number  on  it,  and  throughout 
the  house  the  order  or  correspondence  is  known  only  by  that  number. 
If  he  can't  remember  the  number,  he  looks  in  the  alphabetical  index — 
Fig.  52 — and  finds  out  what  the  number  is.  If  it  is  a  new  customer, 
the  next  highest  unused  number  must  be  given. 

Fig.  51  in  the  body  of  this  book  shows  a  model  of  this  system. 
Usually  the  size  will  be  5x8  on  end  instead  of  3x5  on  side.  Ordinary 
guide  cards  numbered  10,  20,  etc.,  appear  between  each  bunch  of  ten 
accounts,  but  the  full  number  appears  written  in  the  corner  of  each 
card  for  permanent  reference. 

If  the  bookkeeper  can  carry  the  number  in  his  mind  so  he  does  not 
have  to  look  it  up  every  time,  he  can  actually  see  at  a  glance  exactly 
where  EACH  account  is,  so  he  can  put  his  hand  directly  on  it  without 
fumbling  for  even  a  second,  as  is  necessary  in  any  alphabetical  indexing 
system  that  is  possible.  In  the  alphabetical  system  two  or  more  ac- 
counts are  sure  to  appear  more  or  less  often  behind  any  guide,  and 
these  have  to  be  examined  one  after  the  other  before  the  right  one  is 
located.  Besides,  the  eye  cannot  follow  alphnbotlcnl  guides  with  any- 
thing like  the  speed  that  it  can  numerical  guides. 

Dead  accounts  are  promptly  marked  by  placing  a  clip  on  the  top 
of  the  card,  and  are  removed  to  another  card  tray  to  be  followed  up  in 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM  219 

an  effort  to  galvanize  the  old  customer  into  life.  If  within  a  certain 
time,  say  three  months,  the  customer  has  not  placed  another  order, 
his  number  is  cancelled  and  given  to  a  new  customer.  Thus  the  low 
numbers  are  kept  working,  instead  of  adding  high  ones. 

The  general  system  .explained  under  No.  4  is  continued  with  the 
numerical  filing. 

In  this  case  the  correspondence  is  all  put  into  folders  which  have 
the  same  number  as  the  ledger  accounts.  Everything  within  that  folder 
belongs  to  the  customer  whose  number  it  bears.  This  is  practicable 
only  when  each  customer  has  much  correspondence.  If  there  were  only 
a  letter  or  two  from  any  one  customer,  the  use  of  manila  paper  folders 
would  be  a  superfluity. 

In  posting  a  numerical  ledger,  much  time  is  saved  through  the  fact 
that  all  invoice  slips  are  arranged  in  numerical  order  by  a  low-priced 
boy,  and  the  bookkeeper  wastes  no  time  in  hunting  around  for  the 
proper  place  to  make  his  entry. 

When  one  card  is  filled  up,  another  is  placed  at  the  back  of  it,  and 
the  ledger  is  perpetual. 

If  different  colored  ink  is  used  each  month  for  four  or  five  successive 
months,  errors  in  drawing  off  trial  balances  will  be  avoided  through 
putting  in  an  old  account  by  mistake,  for  all  accounts  of  preceding 
months  will  instantly  appear  as  written  in  an  ink  of  different  color. 

Retail  Accounting. 

For  a  retail  store  the  increasingly  popular  system  starts  with  small 
pads  of  order  forms  in  duplicate  for  each  individual  clerk,  which  can 
be  bought  for  a  couple  of  cents  each  all  ready  for  use.  The  carbon 
copy  is  given  the  customer  with  the  goods,  the  original  (kept  because  it 
is  more  likely  to  be  perfectly  plain)  is  sent  to  the  bookkeeper.  A  circle 
is  put  around  "Cash,"  "Charge"  or  "C.  O.  D."  Charges  are  written  off 
on  a  long  billhead  kept  in  a  looseleaf  binder,  each  item  written  with 
price  in  small  figures  after  it,  the  total  carried  to  the  right-hand 
columns.  This  posting  is  c'one  day  by  day,  and  at  the  end  of  the  week 
the  bill  is  footed  and  mailed  to  flie  customer,  only  the  total  being 
carried  forward.  The  original  order  slips  are  kept  as  the  only  permanent 
record.  Cash  items  and  paid  bills  are  entered  in  a  bound  cashbook.  If 
billing  is  done  on  the  typewriter  a  carbon  copy  can  easily  be  kept, 
though  it  is  very  seldom  needed.  Carbons  of  pen  writing  are  not  worth 
bothering  with. 

8.     Checking  Advertising  Inquiries  Received  by  Mail. 

The  most  convenient  system  for  checking  mail  order  or  magazine 
advertising  of  almost  any  kind  is  by  use  of  a  card  like  Form  8,  on  which 


220 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 


S8|BS 

-e- 

• 

■e^ 

. 

^ 

saiBS 

-o- 

Q 

<^ 

•^ 

S81BS 

CO 

-t^ 

' 

<^ 

6 
-if 

^ 

S8|BS 

-o- 

D 

■w- 

>> 

S8|BS 

-a 

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m 

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CM 

CN 

CM 
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S 

1 

PERMANENT  ADVERTISING    RECORD 


Date. 


.19 


Weatherl^^'^  V^^^- 
( Last  year. 


Sec. 

Art. 

Calls 

Direct 
Sales 

Total 
Sales 

Space 

Cost 
This  year 

Cost 
Last  year 

% 
Gain 

% 
Loss 

Reg. 
Price 

Adv. 
Price  ! 

FORM 

9  B 

i 

Copyright,  1909y  by  Sherwin  Ci 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM  221 

the  days  of  the  month  are  printed,  with  a  space  for  inquiries  and  another 
for  orders.  A  fresh  card  is  used  each  month.  If  desired,  a  card  with 
tab  showiug  the  mouth  already  printed  may  be  used,  though  the  form 
on  which  the  month  is  written  in  the  space  provided  is  probably  just 
as  convenient. 

Several  periodicals  may  be  written  on  each  card.  Each  has  a 
special  street  number,  room  number,  or  department  number  to  be  used 
as  a  key.     See  page  21'). 

9.    Checking  Retail  Advertising. 

The  system  used  by  Marshall  Field  &  Co.  and  other  large  Chicago 
and  New  York  retail  stores  is  just  as  applicable  to  the  small  store 
as  to  the  large.  The  sj'stem  is  very  simple,  and  is  probably  the  best 
that  can  be  devised. 

Form  9a  shows  the  card  which  is  sent  to  the  section  clerks.  On 
the  back  of  this  card  may  be  written  the  names  of  the  articles  in  that 
section  that  are  advertised,  and  each  article  is  preceded  by  a  number. 
The  clerk  simply  makes  a  mark  in  one  of  the  spaces  under  the  column 
headed  by  that  number,  or  writes  the  amount  of  the  sale.. 

At  night  each  card  is  totaled,  and  the  department  manager  writes 
off  the  totals  on  another  similar  card  at  the  top  of  which  he  writes 
"Totals,"  or  sends  the  cards  to  the  advertising  department  to  be  added 
up  by  an  expert.    This  should  not  be  necessary,  however. 

Form  9b  shows  the  form  of  the  permanent  record.  Ordinarily  the 
permanent  record  shows  only  the  totals  for  the  section  as  a  whole. 
The  column  headed  "Art."  is  used  only  for  specials  that  may  be  a 
regular  feature  of  the  house,  and  only  in  such  cases  will  use  be  made 
of  the  columns  '"Reg.  Price"  and  "Adv.  Price." 

Observe  that  in  all  retail  advertising  returns  the  state  of  the 
weather  plays  an  important  part  and  should  always  be  clearly  indicated 
after  the  day  is  finished. 

10.    Cost  Systems. 

Every  manufacturing  or  job-work  business  should  have  a  careful 
cost  system  in  which  every  item  of  cost  is  included.  Items  of  overhead 
expense  are  best  indicated  by  a  percentage  derived  from  a  careful  com- 
pilation of  the  relative  cost  of  such  during  the  preceding  year. 

The  printing  business  has  about  as  many  items  as  any.  and  it  is 
said  that  few  printers  make  much  money  simply  because  they  do  not 
know  exactly  what  their  work  costs  them  and  make  mistakes  frequently 
because  they  give  estimates  by  a  rough  and  ready  guessing  system. 
This  business  is  therefore  .selected  simply  for  illustration  and  because 
the  writer  is  familiar  with  it. 

In  case  of  the  printing  cost  card,  the  form  should  be  printed  the 


222 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 

COST 


Job 

Quoted 

By 

Stock— Body 

Cover 

Comp.— Hand 

Mach. 

Cuts 

Electros 

Corrections 

Alterations 

Lock-up 

Make-ready 

Press 

Ink 

Binding 

Cutting 

Delivery 

Remarks 

Add  for 
Overhead 

9^$ 

Form  10 
Article 


Copyright,  1909,  by  Sherwin  Cod] 


PERPETUAL   INVENTORY 

Our  No. 


Fac.  No. 


Unit 

Max. 

Min. 

Price 

Disc. 

Totals  Frd. 

Time 

Date 

Rec'd 

Sold 

Bal. 

Date 

Rec'd 

Sold 

Bal. 

* 

. 

FORM    1 

1 

1 

Copyright,  1909,  by  Sherwin  Cody 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM  223 

same  on  both  sides  of  the  card.  One  side  is  headed  "Cost"  as  shown 
in  the  sample.  The  other  side  has  the  same  blanks,  but  is  headed 
"Estimate."  When  the  job  is  sent  into  the  shop  the  foreman  will  see 
on  the  "Estimate"  side  of  the  card  just  what  time  the  estimator  expected 
would  be  given  to  the  job  at  the  price  he  has  quoted.  This  will  often 
prevent  a  foreman  through  ignorance  devoting  an  amount  of  time  en- 
tirely unjustified  by  the  estimate.  At  the  same  time,  when  the  card 
comes  back  the  estimator  will  see  how  closely  he  has  estimated  each 
item,  or  if  some  workman  has  been  dallying.  Both  of  these  are  very 
important  things  to  know,  and  both  the  estimate  and  the  actual  figures 
of  cost  should  be  kept  side  by  side.  If  there  is  danger  that  an  estimate 
card  will  be  lost  in  the  composing  room,  a  duplicate  should  be  kept 
in  the  office. 

The  general  manufacturer  will  have  a  system  of  his  own,  but  he 
will  have  to  figure  out  his  total  from  the  costs  over  a  period,  or  for  a 
dozen  pieces,  or  100,  as  the  case  may  be.  To  work  out  such  systems  re- 
quires an  expert  in  each  individual  case,  since  the  chance  for  error  in 
omitting  or  incorrectly  estimating  any  item  of  expense  is  great. 

11.    Perpetual  Inventory. 

There  is  very  great  value  in  keeping  an  inventory  always  up  to 
date.  This  is  almost  imperative  in  a  wholesale  or  general  manufacturing 
business.  The  rough  and  ready  way  of  having  a  bin  or  a  section  for 
goods  of  a  given  character  and  going  around  once  in  a  while  and  looking 
the  bins  over  to  see  which  are  low  or  which  are  too  full  is  old-fashioned 
and  very  unsystematic. 

The  inventory  should  be  kept  in  the  accounting  room  by  a  man  who 
probably  never  sees  the  stock  at  all. 

Form  11  is  a  stock  form  that  might  be  used  in  a  business  of  almost 
any  kind,  with  special  changes  or  adaptations. 

Under  "Unit"  you  indicate  whether  you  count  that  particular  article 
by  "1,"  "doz.,"  "gross,"  or  the  like. 

Keeping  the  inventory  is  the  regular  work  of  an  inventory  clerk, 
who  of  course  may  have  many  other  duties  also. 

The  carbon  duplicate  of  the  invoice  or  shipping  order  written  when 
the  order  is  received  from  the  customer  is  sent  to  the  inventory  clerk, 
who  enters  the  amount  of  each  item  on  the  card  headed  by  that  item 
and  writes  out  the  balance  remaining.  Likewise  when  any  goods  that 
have  been  ordered  are  received  they  are  first  checked  by  the  invoice 
that  accompanies  them,  and  then  the  checked  invoice  is  sent  to  the 
inventory  clerk  to  add  the  goods  to  his  inventory. 

On  each  card  should  appear  the  minimum  and  maximum  amount 
that  ought  to  be  carried,  and  the  moment  the  stock  reaches  the  minimum 


224  LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 

the  inventory  clerk  indicates  the  fact  by  sticking  a  steel  clip  on  that 
card,  and  every  clay  the  buyer  simply  glances  over  the  card  tray  and 
talies  out  for  ordering  the  cards  on  which  clips  appear,  lie  sees  at  a 
glance  what  the  sales  have  actually  been  and  is  able  to  order  with 
perfect  intelligence.  At  the  same  time  he  may  change  the  minimum  or 
maximum,  or  discontinue  the  article  by  writing  in  red  ink  "Discontinue" 
across  the  face  of  the  card. 

In  a  retail  store  it  is  not  practicable  to  use  such  an  inventory 
system  as  this,  because  of  the  large  number  of  small  orders.  As  a 
substitute,  when  a  sample  is  placed  on  the  display  floor  to  sell  from  a 
ticket  is  attached  on  which  is  written  the  amount  of  stock  on  hand  and 
the  minimum,  the  same  as  on  Form  11.  Each  sales  person  in  making 
a  sale  deducts  the  amount  of  the  sale  and  shows  the  balance  remaining. 
Or  the  sizes  of  the  different  pieces  of  goods  are  written  and  each  is 
crossed  off  when  it  is  sold.  When  the  minimum  has  been  reached  the 
salesman  may  have  instructions  to  attach  a  red  ticket  so  the  buyers  can 
see  at  a  glance  what  items  are  getting  low. 

12.    A  Real  Estate  Becord. 

While  such  an  inventory  card  as  has  been  described  under  Form  11 
will  do  for  almost  any  wholesale  or  general  manufacturing  business, 
and  may  easily  be  adapted  to  a  retail  business,  the  same  principle  will 
apply  equally  well  to  the  listing  of  houses  for  sale  or  rent,  farms, 
oriental  rugs,  individual  works  of  art,  or  anything  that  is  purely  in- 
dividual, yet  needs  a  detailed  clescription  to  sell  it. 

Such  a  card  as  Form  12,  for  description  of  a  house  for  sale  or  rent, 
is  easily  made  up.  As  it  has  no  cross  rules  it  will  cost  little  to  have  it 
set  up  by  a  printer,  and  it  may  be  arranged  in  infinite  variety. 

13.    School  Eecord. 

A  school  record  card  should  present  a  system  which  can  be  checked 
for  a  large  number  of  entries  with  the  greatest  rapidity  and  show  the 
largest  possible  number  of  individual  facts  on  one  page  at  a  glance. 

A  record  is  needed  in  the  office  for  keeping  track  of  the  payments, 
etc.,  and  a  record  is  needed  by  each  teacher  for  recording  the  daily 
attendance. 

Form  13  serves  both  of  these  purposes,  and  is  the  most  condensed 
and  easily  checked  form  that  has  been  devised. 

The  date  of  payment  is  shown  by  circling  the  month  with  pencil 
or  red  ink  and  also  circling  the  day  of  the  month.  In  this  way  ordinarily 
the  date  of  entrance  is  indicated  in  the  line  marked  "Date."  The  instal- 
ment payments  may  be  indicated  in  the  same  manner  in  the  lines  marked 
"Attendance."     By  this  system  the  total  attendance  for  any  six  months 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 

DWELLING  FOR  RENT  OR  SALE 


225 


Location 


Rent 
Price 


Lot 


House  or  Elat 


Condition 


When  Bunt 


Interior 


Floors 


Plumbing 


Foundation 


No.  Stories 


Rooms 


Laundry 


Range 


Heat 

Light 

Water 

Keys  at 

Insurance 

Taxes 

Transportation 

Lease  Expires 

Kemarks 

Date 

OWNER 

Address 

Form  12 


Name 


Copyright,  1909,  by  Sherwin  Cody 


Address 


Parent' 

s  Name 

Parent's  Occupation 

Course 

Price 

Date^ 

2 

3    4    5    6    7    8 
Jan.       Feb. 

9    10   11    12   13    14    IS    16    17    18    19    20    21    22    23    24    25    26 
Mar.        Apr.       May       June       July        Aug.        Sept.       Oct. 

27    28 
Nov. 

29    30     31 
Dec. 

Payments 

Attendance 

Jan.        Feb. 

Mar.        Apr. 

May 

June 

July 

Aug.       Sept 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

12    3 

5 

6    7    8    9 

10 

11     12    13    14    15 

16 

17 

18    19 

20    21 

22    23     24     25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30     31 

,12    3 

5 

6    7    8    9 

10 

11    12    13    14    15 

16 

17 

18    19 

20    21 

22    23     24     25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30     31 

11    2    3 

5 

6    7    8    9 

10 

11    12    13    14    15 

16 

17 

18    19 

20    21 

22    23     24     25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30     31 

1   2    3 

5 

6    7    8    9 

10 

11    12    13    14    15 

16 

17 

IS    19 

20    21 

22    23     24     25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30     31 

,12    3 

5 

6    7    8    9 

10 

11    12    13    14    15 

16 

17 

18    19 

20    21 

22    23    24     25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30     31 

1    2    3 

5 

6    7    8    9 

10 

11    12    13    14    15 

16 

17 

18    19 

20    21 

22    23     24     25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30     31 

Form  13 


Copyright,  1909,  by  Sherwin  Cody 


226  LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 

of  the  year  may  be  indicated  with  only  seven  lines  instead  of  twelve. 

The  individual  teacher  will  receive  a  card  in  which  in  the  line 
"Date"  the  date  of  entrance  has  been  marked,  and  daily  attendance 
can  be  indicated  by  circling  the  month  (the  last  mouth  circled  is  sup- 
posed to  be  current)  and  then  crossing  out  the  day  in  case  of  absence. 
Days  not  crossed  out  are  supposed  to  indicate  attendance. 

As  the  number  of  cards  is  small  and  danger  of  losing  some  may 
be  considerable,  it  would  be  advisable  to  have  them  punched  and  kept  in 
a  secure  looseleaf  binder,  though  a  good  system  is  to  have  the  teacher 
keep  them  in  a  leather  pocketbook  or  cardcase  loose.  The  latter  method 
allows  turning  them  more  rapidly  in  calling  the  roll. 

14.    Salesman's  Route  Call. 

Much  time  may  be  saved,  uniformity  secured,  and  the  convenience 
of  every  one  served  if  each  traveling  man  is  supplied  with  a  blank  card 
like  Form  14,  on  which  he  can  quickly  and  easily  write  his  route  each 
week. 

The  beauty  of  this  is  that  it  may  be  filed  by  dropping  it  into  a  card 
tray,  and  information  about  any  salesman  can  be  found  in  a  fraction  of 
the  time  required  for  looking  through  letters,  which  are  in  the  end 
very  likely  to  be  found  incomplete  through  oversight. 

15.     Salesmen's  Reports  on  Customers. 

The  office  salesman  of  any  business  could  do  five  times  as  much 
good  for  the  sales  department  if  he  had  five  times  as  much  information 
about  customers  or  prospective  customers.  This  information  the  sales- 
man could  easily  collect  if  he  were  given  an  easy  system  on  which  to 
go  after  it. 

Form  15  shows  a  card  calling  for  exactly  the  information  most 
needed  in  every  business,  and  in  a  size  convenient  to  be  carried  in  a 
card  case.  The  salesman  may  either  be  given  blank  cards  which  he  can 
fill  out  after  each  call  he  makes,  or  cards  can  be  filled  out  for  every 
business  rated  in  Dun  or  Bradstreet  with  name,  address,  and  rating,  and 
the  salesman  can  use  the  cards  as  leads  if  it  is  best  to  lay  out  his  route 
with  such  precision  in  advance.  A  similar  form  may  be  used  in  giving 
canvassers  leads  to  follow  up. 

16.  Shipping  Blank  for  Mail  Order  Specialty. 
When  shipping  is  not  made'  from  a  miscellaneous  stock,  but  only 
from  four  to  five  items,  it  is  more  convenient  to  have  the  names  of  these 
items  printed  on  a  card  with  blanks  to  fill  in  the  number  of  copies 
of  each  book  and  place  for  the  shipping  clerk  to  verify  the  order  before 
returning  to  the  bookkeeping  department  for  billing.     Invoices  are  sent 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 


227 


NAME 


My  route  and  address  for  the  next 
seven  days  will  be  as  foUoAvs 


SUNDAY 

DATE 

TOWN 

ADDRESS 

MONDAY 

TUESDAY 

• 

WEDNESDAY 

THURSDAY 

FRIDAY 

SATURDAY 

REMARKS 


Form  14 


(To  be  cut  small  size  as  printed) 


Firm 

Sal 

!»man 

Address 

See 

Credit  said  to  be 

I^ooks 

Has  handled  our 

Order  $ 

Ought  to  use  our 

Quantity- 

Now  handles 

Form  IS 


Copyright,  1909,  by  Sherwin  Cody 


228  LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 

only  the  day  after  the  shipping  clerk  sends   back   his  verification  of 
the  order  for  shipping.     (Form  IG). 

This  form  might  be  written  in  duplicate  on  the  typewriter  and  the 
dnplicate,  properly  filled  out,  sent  to  the  customer  for  his  information 
and  to  show  him  exactly  what  has  been  done  and  how.  Sending  such 
a  statement  would  no  doubt  prevent  many  complaints  and  much  delay 
when  shipments  are  not  promptly  received.  With  some  additions,  it  will 
do  also  for  a  complete  invoice  form. 

17.     "Out"  Card. 

When  any  papers,  cards,  or  the  like  are  taken  out  for  any  purpose, 
or  any  letters  removed  from  a  file,  an  "Out"  card  should  always  be  put 
in  the  place  of  what  is  removed.  This  card  has  several  lines  with  blank 
spaces  in  which  to  write  with  pencil  the  date  on  which  file  has  been 
removed,  and  by  whom,  the  date  returned  and  by  whom,  and  "Remarks," 
such  as  "Torn,"  "Cut,"  and  the  like.  Form  17  may  be  printed  on  a  full 
letter  sheet  if  used  in  a  letter  file,  or  any  size  of  card-  that  may  be  con- 
venient. The  size  3x5  gives  enough  spaces  for  ordinary  needs,  for  when 
more  are  required  the  card  will  probably  be  worn  out  and  another  will 
be  needed. 

It  is  important  to  have  a  record  of  the  person  who  returns,  in  case 
any  part  of  the  file  is  missing  and  needs  to  be  traced. 

If  one  "Out"  card  is  used  promiscously,  or  a  few,  which  are  put 
in  the  file  only  when  papers  are  taken  out,  the  number  of  the  file  removed 
or  the  name  may  be  written  under  "Remarks,"  and  by  running  over 
all  the  "Out"  cards  in  use  the  record  of  removal  may  be  found  in  case 
tracing  is  required. 

"Out"  cards  should  be  in  a  special  color  and  have  a  tab  on  the  edge 
marked  "out." 

18.    Index  and  Cross  Reference  Cards. 

.  The  index  to  a  numerical  file,  and  a  system  of  cross  references  by 
subject  is  conveniently  kept  on  a  form  like  Form  18.  The  space  at  the 
right  is  used  for  the  numerical  file  index  number,  the  primary  number 
above,  the  cross  reference  below.    See  Fig.  Vm  in  body  of  this  book. 

Card  Index  and  Looseleaf  Stock. 

There  are  four  standard  kinds  of  card  index  stock. 

For  cards  on  which  any  records  are  to  be  written  with  a  pen,  a 
ledger  finish  is  desirable,  and  a  good  quality  of  stock. 

In  the  Compendium  of  Card  Systems  sample  case,  the  lightest  white 
cards  are  ledger  paper,  cut  from  size  28x34 — weight  72  pounds  to  the 
ream,  wholesale  cost  10c  a  pound,  cost  per  M  3x5  cards  about  24e,  cutting 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 

SHIPPING  ORDER 


229 


Ship  to 
Name 


SUect 


Via 


Town 


Date- 


Charges 


.How  to  do  business  by  letter 
.Exercises  in  letter  writing 
.Word-Study  for  schools 
.  Correct  English 
-Touch  typewriting 


_How  to  do  business  by  1-  and  adv 


.Literary  Composition 
J*rivate  Secretary  Manual 


.Nutshell  Library,  Vols.  1,2,3,4, 

5,6,7,8,9,10,11.12 
.Dictionary  of  Errors 


Shipped  above  (date) 


SHIPPING  CLERK'S  REPORT 


chgs. 


Form  16 


Copyright,  1909,  by  Sherwin  Cody 


TAKEN 


BY 


RETURNED 


BY 


REMARKS 


Form  17 


Copyrightt  1909,  by  Sherwin  Cody 


230  LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 

extra  from  10c  a  thousand  up  according  to  quantity.  This  sized  sheet 
is  not  very  convenient  for  3x5  cards. 

The  next  heavier  ledger  finished  card  is  an  index  bristol  Ivnown  as 
two-ply,  or  25^^x301/^ — 110  pounds,  cost  wholesale  $2.25  a  hundred 
sheets,  or  45c  a  thousand  3x5  cards,  cutting  extra  from  12c  a  thousand 
up  according  to  quantity.  This  stock  is  shown  in  white,  buff,  and 
salmon.  The  buff  shows  ink  plainly  and  does  not  soil  so  easily  as  white, 
and  on  that  account  I  prefer  that  color,  and  this  is  heavy  enough  for 
ordinary  use. 

If  cards  are  much  used  and  heavy  stock  is  desired,  the  next  heavier 
weight  is  the  same  quality  of  stock,  in  the  same  size,  weight  140  pounds, 
cost  $2.75  a  hundred  sheets,  or  55c  a  thousand  3x5  cards,  cutting  extra 
from  15c  a  thousand  up  according  to  quantity.  The  samples  are  guides 
(the  only  blue  cards  in  the  file),  a  color  that  may  also  be  had  in  the 
lighter  weight.  This  card  is  as  heavy  as  any  3x5  card  needs  to  be,  but 
heavfer.  weights  would  be  required  for  large  ledger  cards  such  as  5x8. 

The  size  25'^x30i^  inches  is  a  standard  card  index  bristol  size. 
Other  standard  card  index  bristol  sizes  are  201^x24%  and  22l^x28l^. 
The  standard  colors  are  v/hite,  blue,  buff,  and  salmon. 

For  carbon  copies,  which  will  take  typewriter,  carbon  impressions, 
pencil,  and  ink  admirably,  nothing  is  better  than  a  good  manila.  The 
light  yellow  sheet  shown  in  the  sample  box  is  "Railroad  Manila,"  28x34 
— 5G  pounds,  price  4iy4c  (some  grades  less)  a  pound,  cost  of  cards  3x5 
about  71/4 c  per  M,  cutting  extra  from  10c  a  thousand  up  according  to 
quantity. 

For  a  stiffer  manila  card  nothing  is  better  than  "Post  Card  Manila," 
the  same  as  is  used  for  government  post  cards.  This  is  shown  in  the 
sample  box  in  cream  or  buff  color,  the  same  as  the  ordinary  U.  S.  postal 
card.  Sheet  is  27%x39i4 — 102  pounds,  price  5c  a  pound,  cutting  72 
cards  out  of  a  sheet,  if  cards  are  left  l-K)  of  an  inch  short,  which  makes 
them  easier  to  handle  in  a  drawer,  costs  24c  a  thousand  3x5  cards, 
cutting  extra  from  15c  a  thousand  up. 

Cutting. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  get  an  ordinary  printer  to  maintain  an  exact 
size  to  a  hair,  and  if  carcis  vary  even  a  shade,  the  short  ones  will  get 
lost  in  the  file  and  will  be  missed  in  fingering.  On  this  account  die-cut 
cards  are  to  be  preferred.  If  cards  can  be  cut  in  full  sheets,  the  prices 
for  cutting  given  above  hold  for  die-cutting  as  well  as  machine  cutting. 
Machine  cutting  often  leaves  a  rough,  fuzzy  edge  on  thick  cards. 

If  cards  are  cut  by  machine,  accuracy  can  be  attained  by  first 
cutting  the  stock  into  convenient  sizes  to  handle  with  a  little  waste  on 
one  side  and  then  setting  the  cutter  for  the  exact  width  of  the  cards 


LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM  231 

with  great  care,  testing  tlie  cut  by  comparison  with  a  card  cut  with 
known  accuracy  till  the  cut  is  found  to  he  accurate  to  a  hair.  Then  all 
the  cards  are  cut  without  resetting  the  machine.  This  requires  great 
patience  on  the  part  of  the  printer,  but  he  must  give  it  very  close 
personal  attention  or  he  will  find  repeat  orders  will  not  come  to  him, 
though  he  may  never  learn  the  reason  why.  Trimming  all  the  cards 
without  changing  the  cutter  guide  is  the  essential  point. 

General  Suggestions. 

Simplicity. — The  tendency  of  all  amateurs  in  making  up  card 
systems  is  to  run  into  needless  complications.  They  put  on  matters 
for  which  there  is  no  real  use  whatever,  or  which  require  more  time 
to  post  up  than  they  are  worth.  When  any  system  of  this  sort  proves 
cumbersome,  the  whole  thing  is  likely  to  be  dropped.  That  which  is 
exactly  suited  to  the  absolute  needs  of  the  business,  with  nothing  what- 
ever superfluous,  becomes  on  the  contrary  a  joy  forever. 

Use  of  Carbon  Copies  on  Cards. — The  old  fashioned  bookkeeping 
requires  often  three  or  four  entries  for  each  item — the  order  entered, 
the  invoice  written,  an  entry  in  a  day  book,  and  an  entry  in  a  ledger, 
which  may,  be  transferred  two  or  three  times  at  that. 

The  new  system  requires  only  one  entry,  the  writing  of  the  invoice, 
carbon  copy  of  which  is  put  in  looseleaf  binder  and  serves  for  ledger, 
the  same  or  another  carbon  copy  serving  as  order  for  the  shipping 
clerk.  At  most  a  single  ledger  entry  is  made,  and  the  daybook  is  some- 
times quite  forgotten.  Moreover,  by  the  card  system  the  itemized  ac- 
count is  just  behind  the  ledger  card  and  no  time  is  lost  in  finding  it. 
When  the  account  has  been  paid  and  the  credit  item  entered  on  the 
ledger  card,  the  carbon  copies  of  invoices  behind  the  ledger  card  are 
removed  to  a  permanent  file  and  do  not  cumber  the  ledger  tray. 

Useless  Itemizing  on  Eecord  Cards. — When  a  business  man  wants 
to  make  out  a  new  card  system  he  thinks  of  this  he  would  like  to  know, 
or  might  like  to  know,  and  of  that,  and  of  the  other.  He  does  not  stop 
to  find  out  whether  he  ever  will  want  to  know  those  things,  or  if  they 
are  worth  the  cost  of  entering. 

Every  useless  space  on  a  card,  or  useless  item  called  for,  is  an 
item  of  lost  brain  motion,  and  is  not  only  dead,  but  a  hindrance.  Every- 
thing that  is  not  known;  to  be  absolutely  neec!ed  should  be  left  out. 
Don't  think  it  will  do  no  harm  to  have  it  on  there.  It  will  do  harm. 
It  is  far  better,  really  far  wiser  to  consider  that  any  item  not  known  to 
be  required  is  an  injury  always  to  be  avoided.  Cut  it  out.  Err,  if  err 
you  must,  by  not  having  enough  on,  or  leave  a  few  blank  lines  in  which 
anything  needed  may  be  written.     They  will  serve  every  purpose. 

Cost  of  Filing  Cabinets. — Cabinets  with  card  trays  or  drawers  are 


232  LOOSELEAF  AND  CARD  SYSTEM 

required  usiuilly  only  for  cards  in  active  use.  One  small  cabinet  will 
often  suffice.  Other  cards  are  stored  in  transfer  boxes  which  cost  15c 
each  retail.  These  boxes  are  made  of  cardboard  with  cloth  reinforcing 
at  the  corners  and  on  the  edges,  and  have  covers.  They  are  durable  and 
much  more  convenient  for  lists  that  are  to  be  sent  out  of  the  office 
than  are  trays  or  drawers. 

A  few  trays  in  which  to  put  cards  while  being  transferred  from 
one  place  to  another  are  a  convenience.    They  cost  50c  to  $2  each. 

A  work  table  with  sunken  compartments  in  which  card  trays  may 
be  set  is  a  great  convenience  for  a  bookkeeper,  who  may  have  10,000 
ledger  accounts  within  reach  on  one  table,  yet  run  no  risk  of  pushing  a 
Cray  off  and  mixing  up  the  cards.  For  most  purposes  an  ordinary  kitchen 
table  costing  $1  cannot  be  surpassed.  Expensive  paraphernalia  is 
seldom  required. 


SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE  233 

APPENDIX  D 

PART  II 

How  to  Systematize  an  Office 

To  accompany  Sherwin  Cody's  "Compendium  of  All  Card  Systems." 
Copyright.  1912.  by  Sherwin  Cody. 


FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES 

In  the  files  of  the  Library  Bureau  I  have  examined  200,000 
different  card  systems  for  various  purposes. 

To  most  people  these  systems  are  a  maze  of  technicalities. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  are  all  developed  from  certain  fuuda 
mental  principles  that  are  easily  understood  and  could  be  used  by 
any  intelligent  person  to  devise  a  system  that  would  be  inexpen- 
sive and  just  the  thing  his  particular  business  required. 

There  are  also  in  business  offices  thousands  of  systems  which 
have  failed  because  no  bright  young  girl  knew  how  to  work  them. 

The  following  lessons  take  up  the  fundamental  principles  of 
office  systems  and  give  ample  practice  for  the  young  person  on 
doing  the  things  that  need  to  be  done  quickly  and  accurately.- 

The  person  who  goes  through  this  course  will  also  know  how 
to  order  and  buy  a  looseleaf  or  card  system  at  a  fraction  of  what 
the  large  card  system  companies  would  be  obliged  to  charge, 
for  their  charge  must  include  enough  to  pay  for  the  expensive 
salesman  who  really  goes  out  and  devises  the  system  for  a  business 
he  knows  little  or  nothing  about. 

Not  only  will  the  home-made  system  be  infinitely  cheaper,  but 
it  will  be  infinitely  more  useful  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  because 
prepared  by  a  person  who  KNOWS  .JUST  WHAT  NEEDS  TO 
BE  ACCOMPLISHED.  Every  office  should  have  its  own  system 
expert — and  half  the  time  she  will  be  a  young  girl  specially 
trained  for  that  purpose. 

References  are  made  to  a  pamphlet  entitled  "The  Simple 
Foundation  Principles  of  Looseleaf  and  Card  Systems" — the  only 


234  SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE 

systematic  exposition  of  these  fuudamental  priueiples  that  had 
appeared  at  the  time  it  was  published — and  to  the  IS  type  sys- 
tems in  the  card  box  outfit  known  as  "A  Compendium  of  All  Card 
Systems."    These  will  be  found  on  page  207  et  seq. 

EXERCISE   1. 
Alphabetizing  Names. 

The  first  qualification  for  a  system  worker  is  rapidity  and 
accuracy  in  alphabetizing  names. 

Take  a  dictionary,  thumb-indexed,  and  practice  for  a  period 
of  three  or  four  weeks,  a  few  minutes  each  day. 

Begin  with  m,  say,  and  see  how  quickly  you  can  turn  to  the 
first  page  of  that  letter.  Then  take  p,  and  so  on  with  every 
other  letter  in  the  alphabet,  carefully  timing  yourself  for  speed. 
If  you  are  not  absolutely  sure  of  the  order  of  letters  in  the  alpha- 
bet, go  over  it  backwards  as  well  as  forwards,  till  you  know 
it  absolutely. 

Take  a  word  beginning  with  la.  It  will  be  found  near  the 
beginning  of  the  letter  1.    See  how  quickly  you  can  find  label. 

Close  the  dictionary  and  see  how  quickly  you  can  turn  to  labor, 
lack,  ladder,  lag,  lamb,  land,  lap,  last,  lath,  laugh,  law,  lax,  lay. 
Close  the  book  squarely  between  each  word. 

Observe  that  there  are  no  words  in  Id,  lb,  or  Ic.  They  cannot 
be  pronounced.  Look  up  on  time  test  lea,  lead,  leaf,  league,  leak, 
lean,  learn,  least,  leather,  leave.  Each  of  these  words  is  found  by 
its  fourth  letter,  and  the  words  are  as  much  in  alphabetical  order 
with  reference  to  the  fourth  letter  as  with  reference  to  the  first 
or  the  second. 

EXERCISE  2. 

We  want  to  divide  up  the  alphabet  as  nearly  evenly  as  ix)S- 
sible.  Look  over  the  dictionary  and  you  will  see  that  the  letter  s 
has  many  pages,  the  little  j  very  few,  and  z  still  fewer.  Taking 
the  letter  s  as  a  standard  with  a  certain  number  of  pages,  see 
what  letters  would  have  to  Le  run  together  to  make  an  even 
division  of  all  the  words  in  the  dictionary,  making  the  division 
only  on  even  letters,  roughly,  so  as  to  come  as  nearly  as  possible 
to  an  even  division.  A  letter  file  Is  like  that.  All  the  names 
under  N  and  O,  P  and  Q,  I  and  J,  U  and  V,  X,  Y  and  Z  may  go 
in  the  same  compartment  in  a  twenty-guide  file.  How  would 
you  divide  up  a  forty-guide  file?  A  sixty-guide  file?  A  telephone 
directory  or  a  city  directory  would  be  better  to  work  on  than  a 
dictionary  in  studying  out  about  how  these  divisions  might  be 


SYSTEMATIZING  AX  OFFICE  235 

made  so  as  to  be  clean  and  yet  fairly  even,  for  the  telephone  direc- 
tory has  names,  while  the  dictionary  has  common  words. 

EXERCISE   3. 

Read  over  "Mailing  Lists,"  "Foundation  Principles,"  pages  2-4. 

Write  the  following  names  on  cards,  and  then  arrange  them 
in  alphabetical  order:  E.  N.  Smith,  F.  C.  Miller,  A.  L.  Brown, 
Geo.  W.  Mairs,  W.  W.  Froeschle,  C.  A.  Colter,  O.  M.  Olson,  Jane 
Chapin,  Mary  McDonald,  Susan  Johnson,  Anna  Mauer,  Mathilda 
Zibel,  Laura  McGuire,  W.  H.  Dickson,  Belle  Barton,  D.  M.  Dyer, 
Carl  Voight,  F.  A.  Voigt,  R.  A.  Voigt,  S.  Kinsey,  C.  Geer,  C.  A. 
Head,  James  T.  Jones,  W.  L.  Marble,  Jr.,  C.  E.  Hawkins,  Eva 
Baker,  Iva  McDill,  Bruno  Zachrisson. 

After  arranging  the  cards  in  alphabetical  order,  copy  off  the 
names  on  the  mailing  sheet,  filling  in  at  the  top  the  name  of  your 
own  town  and  writing  local  addresses  in  the  second  line.  Taking 
any  of  the  columns,  place  a  strong  check-mark  or  cross  opiK)site  all 
the  names  of  women.  Be  sure  these  marks  are  all  in  the  same 
column,  and  notice  that  by  running  your  eye  down  that  column  you 
can  pick  out  the  names  of  women  as  quickly  as  if  they  were 
not  mixed  with  the  names  of  men.  Then  check  the  men  in  an- 
other column. 

EXERCISE  4. 
Alphabetical  by  States  and  Towns 

Read  over  Section  2  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  page  4. 

Ordinarily  we  arrange  lists  alphabetically  by  names  regard- 
less of  the  places  where  the  people  live ;  but  often  it  is  desirable  to 
have  lists  of  names  arranged  so  we  can  find  quickly  the  custom- 
ers in  any  given  territory.  Then  we  must  arrange  the  names 
alphabetically,  first  by  states  (that  is,  all  in  Arizona  are  placed 
first,  and  those  in  Arizona  will  begin  with  the  town  that  has  the 
first  letter  of  the  alphabet,  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the  towns  in 
Arizona.  The  towns  in  Colorado,  for  example,  will  begin  with  A 
and  go  to  the  end  of  the  alphabet,  and  so  on). 

Arrange  the  following  addresses  alphabetically  by  states  and 
towns :  J.  D.  Arthur,  Asbury  Park,  N.  J. ;  American  Seating  Co., 
215  Wabash  Ave..  Chicago,  111.;  Chas.  Badeau,  Baker  City,  Ore.; 
Booth.  Macdonald  &  Co.,  Christchurch,  New  Zealand;  A.  Behrens 
Mfg.  Co.,  Winona,  Minn. ;  H.  G.  Braithwaite,  Ottawa,  Ont. ;  A.  R. 
Bredelph,  Elizabeth,  N.  J.;  E.  A.  Cole,  Charlotte,  N.  C. ;  J.  B. 
Cessna,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.;  C.  E.  Cancey,  Peoria,  111.;  G.  H.  Cramer, 
Omaha,  Nebr. ;  C.  E.  Dodge,  Syracuse,  X.  Y. ;  Peter  Duffy,  Seagate, 


236  SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE 

Long  Island,  N.  Y. ;  J.  N.  Deglemann,  Mankato,  Minn.;  Perry 
Deeter,  Pleasant  Hill,  Ohio;  Harry  Evans,  Davenport,  Iowa; 
Everard  C.  Fuller,  Box  350,  Providence,  R.  I.;  W.  S.  Gibson, 
Atlanta,  Ga. ;  Raymond  W.  Hall,  Westfield,  N.  Y. ;  Geo.  M.  Heath, 
LaCrosse,  Wise. ;  Chas.  W.  Inman,  New  Albany,  Ind. ;  S.  G.  Lisher, 
Napa,  Cal. ;  F.  B.  Martin,  Des  Moines,  Iowa;  P.  H.  Neill,  Napa, 
Cal.;  Randolph  Rose,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. ;  H.  H.  Sawyer,  Napa, 
Cal. ;  Miss  Nora  Sullivan,  Cuba,  N.  Y. ;  E.  M.  Selkirk,  North  East, 
Pa.;  C.  J.  Swan,  Richmond  Hill,  N.  Y.;  John  N.  Webb,  Norfolk, 
Va. ;  Jos.  Weiler,  Olney,  111.;  Wichita  College  of  Music,  Wichita, 
Kans. 

Write  the  preceding  names  on  cards  of  Form  No.  2,  Compend- 
ium of  Card  Systems,  and  practice  distributing  these  cards  with 
rapidity  into  alphabetical  order,  merely  making  sure  you  get  the 
card  in  front  of  the  right  guide  without  troubling  to  see  that  it  is 
in  alphabetical  order  with  reference  to  other  cards  in  front  of 
the  same  guide. 

Then  mix  the  cards,  and  see  how  rapidly  you  can  distribute 
them  in  front  of  state  guides,  which  you  can  make  for  yourself 
by  writing  the  abbreviations  of  states  on  the  back  of  the  alphabet 
guide  cards  and  using  them  with  the  back  to  the  front  instead  of 
the  printed  letter  side  to  the  front. 

EXERCISE   5. 
Filing   Letters 

Write  each  name  in  Exercise  3  on  a  blank  sheet  of  paper  with 
an  actual  address  in  your  own  town,  and  see  how  rapidly  you  can 
distribute  these  into  an  ordinary  box  letter  file  or  a  vertical  letter 
file.  Do  the  same  with  the  addresses  in  Exercise  4.  Then  file  them 
all  alphabetically  according  to  states  and  towns.  In  case  of  the 
names  in  Exercise  3,  you  will  have  a  large  number  all  in  the  same 
town.  These  may  be  arranged  alphabetically  according  to  the 
names  themselves  and  placed  in  a  folder  made  of  a  double  sheet 
of  manila  paper  of  the  same  size  as  the  letter  file  guides. 

This  folder  will  then  be  labeled  with  the  name  of  the  town 
and  placed  in  its  proper  place  with  the  rest  of  the  matter  that  is 
arranged  alphabetically  according  to  states  and  towns. 

EXERCISE   G. 
Numerical  Filing 
Read  over  Section  7  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  pages  10-12. 
Take  the  preceding  address  cards  and  shuffle  them  well,  and 
then  write  a  plain  number  on  each,  beginning  with  1.    Copy  oflf 


SYSTEMATIZING  AX  OFFICE  2Z7 

the  names  on  Form  Xo.  18,  writing  the  number  in  the  place  indi- 
cated for  it.  Then  use  Form  No.  7  as  a  set  of  numerical  guides. 
These  are  really  ledger  cards,  but  may  serve  equally  as  guide 
cards.  Notice  that  the  tens  are  in  blue  at  the  right,  and  that  the 
units  follow  them.  To  find  22,  first  look  on  the  right  for  20  among 
the  blue  cards  and  pull  that  forward.  Then  pull  forward  the  unit 
cards  so  as  to  leave  2  standing,  and  drop  in  your  name  card 
directly  in  front  of  this. 

Distribute  the  numbered  name  cards  into  this  numerical  file, 
at  first  always  pulling  down  the  blue  card  indicating  tens,  and 
then  the  unit  card.  After  you  have  done  this  a  few  times  j'ou  can 
catch  the  blue  card  (showing  the  tens)  with  your  eye  simply  with- 
out pulling  it  forward,  and  extend  your  hand  directly  to  the  right 
unit  card,  so  you  perform  only  one  operation  and  get  the  plac-e 
right  every  time;  but  that  requires  considerable  practice. 

The  sheets  of  letter  paper  for  the  letter  file  may  be  numbered 
with  the  same  numbers  and  put  into  numerical  letter  files. 

Observe  that  Form  18  gives  the  number  key,  and  these  cards 
are  arranged  alphabetically  so  if  you  do  not  remember  the  number 
you  can  look  for  the  name  in  this  list  and  find  out  what  the  num- 
ber is;  but  ordinarily  you  are  expected  to  remember  all  the  num- 
bers corresponding  to  names. 

EXERCISE   7. 
Follo/wing-Up  Inquiries. 

In  case  of  a  private  school  soliciting  enrollments  it  will  be 
advisable  that  students  work  directly  on  that  actual  and  veritable 
system.  In  the  case  of  public  schools  it  is  iK)ssible  for  teachers  to 
obtain  from  the  Postgraduate  School  of  Business  its  follow-up, 
dummies  of  which  can  be  made  for  practice  purposes  by  copying 
the  headings  on  blank  sheets  of  paper  of  the  same  size  and  folded 
in  the  same  way.  The  following  exercises  are  arranged  with 
reference  to  the  follow-up  system  of  a  school  of  this  character. 

Review  Section  2  of  "Foundation  Principles. " 

Form  No.  »2  is  designed  for  filing  by  states  and  towns.  The 
fact,  however,  that  the  name  is  written  on  the  second  line  makes 
no  difference  as  to  alphabetical  indexing  by  names. 

Under  the  title  "Prospect  for"  would  be  written  the  kind  of 
course  the  prospect  might  wish  to  take,  as  "Business  Course." 
"Shorthand  Course,"  "Bookkeeping  Course,"  "Literary  Course," 
"Postgraduate  Course,"  or  the  like. 

Under  '"Source"  would  be  written  the  place  from  which  the.  in- 


238  SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE 

quiry  came,  as  "Review  of  Reviews,"  indicating  that  it  came  from 
an  advertisement  in  that  magazine;  or  "Recommended  by  Harry 
Jones"  (another  student),  or  "List  of  High  School  Graduates." 
In  practice  a  number  or  abbreviation  would  be  used. 

The  follow-up  catalogues  or  circulars  are  placed  before  the 
systematizer  and  numbered  from  1  up.  Then  the  form  letters 
used  to  follow  up  inquiries  are  numbered  from  1  up.  When  the 
circular  numbered  1  is  sent  out,  the  date  is  written  in  the  space 
numbered  1  on  the  card,  and  when  the  first  letter  is  sent  out  the 
date  in  short  form  is  placed  in  the  space  numbered  1,  second  line. 
Write  the  date  in  abbreviated  form  as  "3/19"  for  the  19th  of 
March.  It  may  be  that  for  some  reason  in  a  particular  case  the 
letter  numbered  5  is  to  be  sent  out  before  the  letter  numbered  2. 
In  that  case  the  date  is  written  in  the  space  numbered  5  and  the 
spaces  between  are  left  blank.  The  dates  will  show  the  order  in 
which  the  letters  were  sent  out.  Special  letters  may  be  indicated 
in  the  blank  spaces  at  the  right. 

The  cards  in  Exercise  4  may  be  used  for  practice  purposes, 
and  the  dummy  follow-up  circulars  and  letters  actually  enclosed  in 
envelopes  for  mailing.  A  clip  should  be  placed  so  as  to  show  the 
day  of  the  month  (actual  day  of  the  month)  when  the  next 
follow-up  should  go  out,  counted  four  days  ahead  of  the  date  of 
the  first.  One  quarter  of  the  names  will  be  prepared  for  the 
first  day,  another  quarter  the  second  day,  and  so  on,  and  the  clips 
will  show  the  same  difference  of  dates  for  the  follow-ups.  These 
are  taken  in  their  numerical  order  (supposed  to  be  the  way  they 
actually  come  to  the  office),  and  are  distributed  into  the  alpha- 
betical file.  The  clips  will  show  at  a  glance  which  cards  need  to 
be  attended  to  on  each  day. 

EXERCISE  8. 

Read  Section  3  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  pages  5,  6. 

When  Exercise  7  has  been  handled  as  a  continuing  exercise  for 
a  sufficient  length  of  time  to  satisfy  the  teacher  that  it  is  well 
•  understood,  the  same  cards  may  be  transferred  to  the  guides  of 
Form  No.  3.  The  clips  are  then  removed,  and  all  cards  requiring 
the  first  follow-up  will  be  placed  in  front  of  the  card  marked  "1st 
follow-up,"  etc.  These  are  given  attention  on  a  certain  day  of 
each  week,  say  every  Wednesday.  You  cannot  find  any  given  card 
if  it  is  called  for  suddenly  unless  you  remember  or  look  through 
all  the  follow-ups.  This  is  a  more  primitive  system  than  the  other, 
but. is  best  to  use  when  there  will  be  no  occasion  to  look  up  any 


SYSTEAIATIZING  AX  OFFICE  239 

particular  name,  as  when  circularizing  pupils  who  may  be  enrolled 
only  the  following  autumn,  and  the  follow-up  is  merely  educational. 

Then  when  the  follow-up  is  finished,  the  cards  will  be  filed  in 
front  of  the  month  when  they  ought  to  have  more  attention,  as 
August  or  September. 

An  exercise  may  also  be  arranged  by  the  teacher  in  which  the 
follow-ups  are  a  month  apart.  Then  if  the  clips  are  used  the 
month  cards  will  bo  required  to  show  in  what  month  the  date  set 
by  the  clip  will  be  found. 

EXERCISE  9. 
Checking  Advertising 

Read  over  Section  S  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  page  13. 

Let  us  now  pass  over  the  accounting  methods  to  Form  8  for 
checking  advertising.  We  will  suppose  that  the  list  of  names  in 
Exercise  4  are  inquiries  that  came  from  advertising  in  the  three 
periodicals — Saturday  Evening  Post.  Review  of  Reviews,  and  Cos- 
mopolitan. We  take  one  card  of  Form  S  and  write  these  names 
in  the  blank  spaces  under  the  word  "Periodicals,"  abbreviating 
the  name  when  necessar.v.  Some  firms  ask  inquirers  to  write  to 
"Dept.  3"  or  to  ask  for  "Catalogue  B."  Those  who  write  will 
often  not  take  the  trouble  to  put  this  on.  But  they  will  put  on 
the  street  number  or  room  number  of  a  building,  not  knowing 
that  it  is  not  the  right  one.  If  you  are  on  the  14th  floor  of  a 
building  and  there  are  only  12  rooms,  numbers  from  1412  up  to 
1500  may  be  used  for  key  purix)ses  without  causing  your  mail  to 
go  to  a  wrong  room.  So  likewise  if  the  street  is  numbered  from 
500  up  to  556,  numbers  over  55<5  up  to  GOO  may  be  used  for  key 
purposes,  and  the  postman  will  think  it  is  an  error  and  deliver 
the  letter  without  question  to  you.  Select,  therefore,  a  false  street 
number  as  the  "key"  in  the  case  of  each  of  these  periodicals.  On 
the  line  "Source"  you  can  write  this  key  number  alone,  at  random 
or  alternating,  so  as  to  have  some  of  one  and  some  of  another  in 
miscellaneous  order.  Then  take  the  day  of  the  month  on  which  you 
find  the  first  circular  matter  was  sent  out,  and  count  all  of  that 
date  and  enter  under  that  day  in  the  line  "Inq."  The  month 
you  write  at  the  top  of  the  card  after  "Month,"  and  after  "Sub- 
ject" you  write  "Business  Course,"  or  whatever  the  thing  may  be 
which  you  suppose  to  be  advertised.  If  two  advertisements,  one 
for  the  "Business  Course"  and  one  for  the  "Literary  Course" 
were  running,  each  would  have  its  own  key  number.     Write  the 


240  'SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE 

key  numbers  on  the  cards  of  Exercise  4  and  enter  them  properly 
on  one  card  of  Form  8. 

EXERCISE  10. 
Checking  Retail  Advertising 

Read  over  Section  9  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  page  9. 

When  a  grocer  advertises  "sugar,  "coffee,"  "flour,"  "canned 
tomatoes  at  10c,"  and  "olive  oil"  on  the  same  day,  each  clerk  will 
be  asked  to  keep  a  record  on  Form  9a  of  the  number  of  inquiries 
for  that  article  and  the  amount  of  sales,  if  any.  On  the  back  of 
one  card  of  Form  9a  write  the  five  kinds  of  goods  indicated  above, 
and  after  each  place  a  number  given  you  by  the  teacher — from  1 
to  5.  All  pupils  must  have  the  same  number.  Whenever  you  as 
clerk  have  an  inquiry  for  sugar,  you  make  any  kind  of  check 
mark  (a  figure  1  is  good)  in  Cohimn  1  under  "Calls" ;  if  you  make 
a  sale  you  enter  the  amount  of  the  sale  in  the  columns  for  dollars 
and  cents.  Any  call  for  olive  oil  you  enter  in  the  same  way  in 
Column  5.  Enter  in  this  way  the  following :  Sugar  5  lbs.  at  6c ; 
1  lb.  coffee  at- 35c;  49  lbs.  flour  at  $1.45;  3  cans  of  tomatoes  at 
10c;  1  qt.  olive  oil  at  $1.10,  and  fifteen  similar  items  dictated  by 
the  teacher. 

EXERCISE  11. 
Analyzing   Retail  Advertising   Returns 

Form  9b  is  intended  for  a  summary  of  all  records  made 
by  different  clerks  on  Form  9a.  Let  each  pupil  see  that  he 
has  the  correct  number  of  calls  as  indicated  by  the  number  in  the 
first  column  of  Form  9a,  and  then  add  up  the  total  sales  in  the 
other  columns  till  all  have  the  same  totals.  Considering  that 
each  pupil  in  the  class  is  a  clerk,  and  each  clerk  brings  in  his 
personal  record,  we  first  add  all  of  these  together  so  as  to  get 
the  total  number  of  inquiries  for  each  article  and  the  total  sales. 
Then  we  take  Form  9b.  In  the  column  headed  "Sec."  we  enter 
*'Gro.,"  meaning  "Grocery  Section,"  and  in  the  column  headed 
"Art."  we  enter  the  article  by  number,  sugar  being  1,  olive  oil  5, 
and  so  on.  Under  the  heading  "Calls"  we  enter  the  total  number 
of  calls  for  each  article,  and  under  "Direct  Sales"  we  enter  the 
totals  of  the  amounts  of  sales  of  each.  I'nder  "Total  Sales"  we 
might  indicate  the  department  manager's  report  of  the  total  sales 
on  sugar  or  olive  oil  or  the  like,  including  in  addition  to  the  re- 
ports of  the  clerks  on  direct  inquiries  all  orders  that  came  in  from 
regular  customers,  etc.,  through  other  channels;  but  in  this  case 
we  do  not  have  that  information,  nor  do  we  know  the  amount  of 


SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE  241 

newspaper  space  used.  We  can  enter  the  price  under  the  heading 
"Reg.  Price."  The  other  columns  we  will  consider  in  our  advanced 
course  in  advertising. 

EXERCISE  12. 
Cost  of  Printing 

Read  Section  10  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  pages  14,  15. 

A  full  understanding  of  Form  10  involves  knowing  what  the 
work  in  a  printing  otQce  actually  costs,  as  compared  with  the  esti- 
mate made  in  advance  as  a  basis  of  a  quoted  price.  For  our  pur- 
poses we  will  be  content  with  merely  figuring  the  actual  c-ost  of 
printing  a  four-page  circular,  each  page  6x0  inches  for  the  pai>er, 
and  414  x7M»  inches  for  the  tyi)e,  plain  comiK)sition  10  pt.  leadwl, 
on  pai>er  No.  115,  25x40  inches,  45  lbs.  to  ream  of  500  sheets, 
electros  on  wood  at  scale  cost  less  30%,  corrections  requiring  two 
hours  at  75c  an  hour,  lock-up  $1.50;  make-ready  on  press,  two 
hours,  at  $1  an  hour ;  5,000  impressions  at  $1  a  thousand ;  25c  for 
cutting.  2oc  a  thousand  for  folding  once,  under  "Binding,"  30c  for 
delivery,  machine  composition  at  50c  a  thousand  ems.  For  meth- 
ods of  carrying  out  these  directions,  see  Course  11  on  "Type,  Print- 
ing, and  Advertising."  Add  10%  for  overhead,  and  quote  a  price 
in  which  25%  is  added  for  profit. 

EXERCISE  13. 
Keeping  Inventory  Records 
.  Read  Section  11  of  'Foundation  Principles,"  pages  15,  16. 
The  simplest  inventory  to  keep  is  that  of  the  paper  and  envel- 
opes on  hand  in  any  office,  so  you  will  know  just  when  to  order, 
how  much,  etc.  On  Form  11  we  enter  on  one  card  "Envelopes." 
These  come  in  boxes  with  250  in  a  box,  and  under  "unit"  we  enter 
"Bx250."  We  ordinarily  order  5,000  at  a  time,  which  we  enter 
under  the  head  "Max."  (maximum).  As  it  takes  a  full  week  to 
print  a  new  lot,  or  possibly  two  weeks  if  the  order  is  sent  to  a  mill, 
we  ought  to  give  a  new  order  when  only  one  box  is  left  on  hand ; 
so  under  "Min."  (minimum)  we  enter  250.  The  space  for  "dis- 
count" we  ignore,  as  there  is  no  discount  on  purchases  of  envelopes. 
The  space  "Totals  Frd."  (forward)  is  used  when  one  card  is  filled 
and  the  total  left  on  hand  as  sho\vn  by  this  card  is  brought  for- 
ward for  entry  on  the  next  card.  The  year  may  be  entered  in  the 
space  marked  "Time." 

On  January  5,  1919.  we  receive  5,000  envelopes  in  20  boxes 
and  enter  on  the  first  line  at  the  right.     On  the  same  date  we 


242  SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE 

give  out  for  office  use  one  box  of  250,  which  we  enter  under  the 
heading  "sold"  (ordinarily  this  card  would  be  used  for  a  stock  of 
goods  to  be  sold  over  the  counter  or  at  wholesale;  but  giving  out 
to  the  office  is  just  the  same  as  far  as  the  inventory  is  concerned). 
On  Feb.  2,  Feb.  25,  Mar.  10,  INIar.  30,  April  15,  April  30,  May  20, 
June  12,  June  28,  July  14,  July  2S,  Aug.  10,  Aug.  31,  Sept.  10  and 
Sept.  23  we  give  out  a  box  of  250.  After  entering  250  each  time 
opposite  the  date,  in  the  column  "Sold,"  we  enter  in  the  column 
"Bal."  the  total  remaining,  that  is  after  the  first  entry  there  would 
be  a  balance  of  4,750,  after  the  second  4,500,  and  so  on. 

EXERCISE  14. 
A  Real  Estate  Record 

Read  Section  12  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  page  17. 

When  a  real  estate  agent  has  a  house  or  flat  for  rent  he  can- 
not be  expected  to  remember  everything  about  it,  and  so  has  a 
record  on  a  card  like  Form  12,  which  is  printed  in  this  way  so  he 
will  be  reminded  to  put  down  everything  he  needs  to  know,  and 
so  he  can  see  at  a  glance  just  what  each  house  or  flat  has. 

Fill  out  this  card  with  reference  to  the  house  or  flat  where 
you  yourself  live.  Give  the  street  number  and  street  first,  then  the 
amount  of  rent,  or  what  it  would  rent  for  in  case  your  family 
owns  it ;  then  the  number  of  the  lot  and  block  if  in  a  town,  or  else 
write  "farm"  under  "lot ;"  cross  out  under  "House  or  flat"  the 
one  it  is  not ;  under  "condition"  write  '"'good,"  "bad"  or  "medium," 
as  the  facts  may  be,  and  similar  words  or  other  descriptive  term 
under  each  following  item.  If  there  is  nothing  under  any  head, 
write  "none,"  as  when  there  is  no  barn,  for  example.  The  founda- 
tion is  "posts,"  "stone,"  "brick,  or  "concrete."  Under  "heat"  you 
indicate  what  sort  of  system,  as  "stoves,"  "hot  water,"  "hot  air," 
or  the  like.  When  you  have  nothing  to  enter  under  any  item, 
write  a  flourish  line.  At  the  bottom  fill  in  the  name  of  the  real 
owner  and  his  address. 

EXERCISE  15. 

School  Record  of  Pupil 

Read  Section  13  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  pages  17,  18. 

One  card  of  Form  13  you  may  fill  out  with  your  own  name 

and  other  particulars,  including  the  course  you  are  taking  and 

what  you  are  paying,  if  anything.     Under  "Payments"  you  enter 

the  amount  you  pay  each  month,  and  indicate  the  date  by  circling 

the  month  when  you  entered  the  school,  and  in  the  line  above  the 


SYSTEMATIZING  AX  OFFICE  243 

day  of  the  month  when  you  made  the  first  payment.  After  that 
you  circle  a  month  and  a  day,  and  the  last  one  circled  shows 
when  the  last  payment  was  made.  Under  "Attendance"  you  can 
keep  a  record  of  your  own  attendance  at  school,  circling  the 
month,  and  then  circling  each  day  when  you  are  present.  When 
one  line  is  full  and  you  start  on  another  month,  you  simply  begin 
to  circle  figures  in  the  next  row.  This  card  will  take  care  of  a 
six  mouths  course  at  any  season  of  the  year,  so  seven  lines  serve 
the  same  purpose  as  twelve  lines  if  there  were  a  line  for  each 
month. 

EXERCISE  16. 
Routing  Salesmen 

Read  Section  14  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  page  18. 

Taking  Sherwin  Cody's  Commercial  Map  of  the  United  States, 
or  any  other  map  showing  the  larger  towns  and  cities,  and  also 
card  Form  Xo.  14,  lay  out  a  route  for  a  salesman  traveling  from 
Chicago  to  St.  Louis  and  return,  and  visiting  as  many  towns  or 
cities  shown  on  the  map  as  possible,  remembering  that  trains  go 
at  a  rate  of  about  thirty  miles  an  hour,  and  that  business  houses 
do  not  open  before  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  close  by  six 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  Figure  exactly  where  the  salesman  might 
probably  be  for  his  mail  each  day,  supposing  he  does  not  have 
to  wait  more  than  an  hour  and  a  half  at  any  time  to  catch  a 
train,  and  can  show  his  goods  to  one  firm  in  a  town  within  one 
hour,  visiting  three  firms  in  each  town. 

EXERCISE   17. 
Salesman's  Report  on  Customers 

Read  Section  15  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  page  18. 

When  a  salesman  calls  on  customers  he  ought  to  make  a  per- 
sonal report  so  the  letter  writer  in  the  oflSce  will  know  as  much 
as  possible  about  the  customer  and  how  he  ought  to  write  to  him. 

We  will  suppose  Form  Card  No.  15  is  carried  by  a  wholesale 
grocery  salesman  and  that  he  calls  on  the  grocery  stores  in  your 
neighborhood,  from  only  one  of  which  he  gets  an  order.  Look  at 
these  grocery  stores,  if  possible  inquire  what  rating  has  been  given 
them  by  a  mercantile  agency  such  as  Dun  or  Bradstreet,  and  note 
on  the  card  the  kind  of  goods  the  grocery  store  ought  to  buy,  in 
your  judgment,  how  it  looks,  etc.,  and  ask  one  of  the  clerks  from 
what  jobber  goods  are  ordinarily  purchased. 


244  SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE 

This  is  a  hard  card  to  fill  out,  and  honors  will  go  to  the  person 
with  some  common  sense  and  "gump"  who  manages  to  find  out  a 
few  real  facts. 

EXERCISE  18. 
A  Shipping  Order  for  Books 

Read  Section  IG  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  pages  18,  19. 

When  the  manager  of  your  school  sends  an  order  to  any 
publisher  for  books  handled  by  that  publisher  which  are  desired 
as  texts  in  yonr  school,  the  publisher,  on  receipt  of  the  order,  will 
fill  out  Form  Card  No.  16.  His  clerk  will  fill  in  the  name  of 
your  school,  with  its  address.  If  the  order  is  large — 100  copies 
or  over — the  shipment  will  be  "Via  freight,"  and  if  the  distance  is 
as  great  as  from  Chicago  to  Utah  and  the  shipment  small,  it 
will  be  "Via  express,"  and  the  charges  may  be  "prepaid"^-other- 
wise  "Collect"  or  "C.  O.  D." 

If  the  titles  printed  on  the  card  are  not  books  used  in  your 
school,  cross  them  out  and  write  with  pen  the  titles  of  books 
that  are  used,  with  the  exact  numbers  that  would  be  required  to 
supply  your  class  or  the  entire  school  (accurate  count). 

EXERCISE  19. 
The  "Out '  Card 

Read  Section  17  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  page  19. 

In  the  front  of  each  letter  file  there  should  be  an  "Out"  card, 
and  when  anyone  takes  out  a  letter  for  reference  the  date  is  en- 
tered in  the  first  column  under  "Taken"  and  in  the  next  column 
is  written  the  name  of  the  person  taking  the  letter,  or  for  whom 
it  is  taken.  The  date  on  which  it  is  returned  is  written  in  the 
column  headed  "Returned,"  and  the  name  of  the  person  returning 
it  in  the  next  "By"  column.  If  part  is  missing,  the  paper  is  torn, 
or  anything  of  that  sort  has  happened,  the  fact  should  be  noted 
under  "Remarks." 

Taking  the  file  containing  the  letters  or  sheets  of  paper  filed 
under  the  names  in  Exercise  4,  remove  one  for  the  teacher  and 
make  an  entry  accordingly,  and  five  others  for  different  members 
of  the  class.  These  should  be  returned  the  next  day,  and  the 
proper  return  entries  made. 

The  same  card  may  be  used  when  a  ledger  card  is  removed, 
or  an  inquiry  card.  Go  through  the  same  operations  with  five  in- 
quiry cards  containing  the  addresses  in  Exercise  4. 

Inquire  about  the  system  in  use  in  your  school  and  find  out 
what  is  done  when  a  budget  of  letters  Is  taken  out  of  the  file  for 


SYSTEMATIZING  AX  OFFICE  245 

reference,  or  what  cards  there  are  to  be  taken  out  and  under  what 

circumstances  they  have  been  taken  out.     Ascertain  if  any  have 

been  lost  when  removed,  if  time  has  been  spent  huntini?  for  them, 

and  what  real  advantage  there  would  be  if  this  "Out"  card  had 

been  on  hand. 

EXERCISE  20. 

The  General  Index  Card 

See  Section  18  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  page  19. 

We  have  already  seen  how  the  card  Form  No.  18  is  used  with 
numerical  indexing,  the  subject  cards  being  in  alphabetical  order, 
while  the  actual  matter  is  arranged  in  a  numerical  order,  the  key 
to  which  is  supplied  by  the  number  on  the  corner. 

The  "Compendium  of  All  Card  Systems"  is  arranged  in  numer- 
ical order  from  1  to  18.  Write  out  subject  cards  for  each  subject, 
placing  the  most  important  word  first  to  appear  in  the  alphabetical 
order,  write  the  number  of  the  form  in  the  corner,  and  arrange 
the  cards  in  alphabetical  order. 

Notice  that  while  "Mailing  Lists"  or  "Guides"  would  properly 
come  under  "M"  and  "G,"  Form  8  would  not  be  indexed  under  "M" 
but  under  "A"  and  "Advertising  Record,  Mail,"  and  Form  9  under 
"Advertising  Record,  Retail." 

EXERCISE  21. 
Cross   References 

When  the  subject  is  treated  in  more  than  one  place,  under 
"Cross  Reference"  we  enter  an  indication  of  all  the  other  places 
where  one  may  look  for  information  or  material  relating  to  the 
general  subject  at  the  top.  In  the  exercises  in  this  book  there 
are  several  cross  references.  In  Exercise  G  you  see  a  reference  to 
Form  Card  No.  18,  and  the  numerical  ledger  is  also  used  for  a 
numerical  guide. 

Taking  the  index  by  subjects  referring  to  the  different  form 
cards,  write  out  under  "Cross  Reference"  everything  you  find  in 
any  of  the  exercises  up  to  this  point  bearing  on  the  general  subject. 
That  is,  you  are  to  make  an  index  of  all  the  material  in  these 
twenty-one  exercises  by  way  of  cross  reference,,  so  your  alpha- 
betical index  will  be  an  index  both  to  the  "Compendium  of  All 
Card  Systems"  and  also  an  index  to  the  series  of  exercises. 

EXERCISE   22. 
Accounting  Records 
We  will  now  go  back  to  Forms  4,  5,  6,  and  7.     See  Section  4 
of  "Foundation  Principles,"  pages  6,  7,  and  8. 


246  SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE 

These  are  not  accounting  systems,  which  must  be  devised  by 
experienced  bookkeepers,  but  only  record  forms  for  accounts.  They 
help  us  to  find  out  how  to  keep  the  records  with  the  least  trouble. 
Form  4  is  a  ledger  card  with  a  system  for  showing  at  the  top 
at  a  glance  the  customer's  credit  standing.  After  his  name  and 
address  we  enter  his  number,  if  indexing  is  done  by  the  numerical 
system.  What  rating  has  he  from  Dun  or  Bradstreet?  How  large 
a  bill  of  goods  might  be  sold  to  him  safely?  If  he  orders  small 
amounts  every  other  day  for  two  months  and  pays  nothing,  in  all 
he  will  have  ordered  a  large  amount  of  goods,  and  this  total  ought 
not  to  run  over  the  limit  of  credit  assigned  him.  If  he  pays  by 
notes,  we  write  "yes"  after  "Notes."  The  first  "Disc."  shows  what 
general  trade  discount  this  customer  is  allowed,  and  the  "Disc, 
bills"  shows  whether  he  is  in  the  habit  of  paying  his  bills  within 
ten  days  so  as  to  get  the  cash  discount  of  perhaps  2%  which  the 
house  offers.  At  the  bottom  we  have  the  number  of  orders  the 
customer  sent  in  last  year,  and  also  the  total  business  he  did, 
roughly,  so  that  at  a  glance  we  may  see  whether  he  is  a  large 
customer  or  a  small  one,  and  whether  he  is  increasing  his  orders 
or  decreasing  them.  If  he  is  dropping  off  his  orders,  something 
must  be  the  matter  and  a  salesman  ought  to  call  on  him  and  in- 
quire. 

Credit  ratings  are  difficult  to  make,  but  the  student  who  has 
access  to  any  real  accounts  can  soon  get  the  material  that  will 
enable  him  to  fill  out  several  of  these  cards  for  most  of  the  spaces. 

EXERCISE  23. 
Carbon  Copy  Records 

See  Section  5  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  pages  8  and  9. 

Whenever  it  is  possible  to  use  a  carbon  copy,  remember  that 
that  saves  once  copying,  and  also  helps  to  eliminate  mistakes, 
for  the  carbon  is  an  exact  record  of  the  original,  and  if  you  had 
to  copy  the  original  by  hand  you  would  run  a  chance  of  making 
just  twice  as  many  mistakes  as  if  you  depended  on  only  one 
record  and  took  time  to  be  sure  that  was  right. 

There  are  registering  machines  that  hold  the  carbon  paper 
firm,  while  the  paper  is  on  long  rolls  and  is  pulled  over  the  carbon 
sheets  by  turning  a  crank.  Then  two  or  three  or  four  copies  of 
any  writing  may  be  torn  off  after  the  crank  has  been  turned.  In 
a  retail  store  the  clerks  have  little  order  books  with  sheets  of 
carbon  paper,  and  after  the  order  is  taken  hand  the  carbon  to  the 
customer,  and  send  the  original  to  the  bookkeeper  for  charging. 


SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE  247 

When  books  are  given  out  to  students  in  your  class  and  not 
paid  for,  a  small  billhead  may  be  used,  and  a  carbon  copy  of  the 
bill  for  the  book  recorded  on  a  card  like  Form  5.  Prepare  several 
such  bills  for  books  sold  to  different  members  of  your  class,  hand 
the  invoices  to  proper  persons,  and  gather  the  carbons  in  alpha- 
betical order,  punch  the  holes  with  a  knife  as  indicated,  and  pass 
a  piece  of  string  through  the  cards  to  hold  th°m  like  a  little  book. 
This  is  your  carbon  copy  ledger.  It  is  good  when  you  have  many 
orders  for  only  one.  two,  three,  four,  or  five  items.  It  could  not 
be  used  in  a  grocery  store  where  orders  run  from  one  Item  to 
twenty-five. 

EXERCISE  24 
Installment  Bookkeeping  with  a  Dater. 

See  Section  6  of  "Foundation  Principles,"  pages  9  and  10. 

We  will  suppose  that  the  teacher  in  your  class  wants  to  hand 
out  a  series  of  twenty  mimeographed  sheets  containing  lessons, 
and  wants  to  be  sure  that  every  pupil  has  a  full  set.  Each  of 
these  sheets  calls  for  a  v/ritten  lesson  to  be  prepared  and  handed 
in,  which  the  teacher  will  correct  and  return,  and  he  wants  to  be 
sure  that  all  are  handed  in.  corrected,  and  returned.  He  uses  a 
card  like  the  back  of  Form  6,  Form  6b.  With  a  rubber  dating 
stamp  he  puts  a  date  in  each  space  under  "Steps"  when  the  paper 
is  given  out,  and  a  date  under  "Criticism"  when  the  paper  is 
returned.  If  a  rubber  dating  stamp  is  not  at  hand,  the  date  may 
be  written  with  pencil  or  pen  and  ink  in  short  form.  The  name 
of  the  person  is  always  on  the  front  of  the  card. 

Prepare  five  cards  for  members  of  your  class,  see  by  a 
calendar  on  just  what  dates  papers  would  be  given  out  (remember- 
ing the  days  of  the  week  on  which  lessons  are  heard)  and  enter 
them  as  they  naturally  would  come;  then  allow  a  week  for  the 
teacher  to  examine  each  paper  and  return  it.  and  write  under 
"Criticism"  the  date  on  which  it  would  be  returned. 

The  heading  "Pay"  should  show  dates  when  payments  of 
installments  are  made,  and  "Col."  the  order  in  which  dunning  let- 
ters are  sent  out  on  each  installment. 

EXERCISE  25 
Card  System  Stock 
See  "Foundation  Principles,"  pages  20  and  21. 
Oo  carefully  over  the  several  different  kinds  of  stock  actually 
found  in  the  cards  of  the  "Compendium  of  Card  Systems"  and  be 


248  SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE 

prepared  to  name  each  at  sight  when  the  actual  stock  is  shown 
to  you,  giving  if  possible  the  sizes  of  the  large  sheet  from  which 
the  small  card  was  cut,  the  weight,  and  the  approximate  value. 
See  how  many  3x5  cards  you  could  get  out  of  each  kind  of 
sheet,  and  figure  up  what  one  thousand  cirds  of  each  quality  of 
stock  would  cost. 

EXERCISE  26 

Standard  cards  are  3x5,  4x6,  and  5x8  inches.  You  have 
figured  up  the  cost  of  1000  cards  3x5  of  each  quality  of  stock. 
Now  figure  the  same  way  the  value  of  1000  cards  of  each  kind 
of  stock  4x6,  and  also  1000  cards  5x8. 

Remembering  that  the  larger  the  card  the  heavier  the  stock 
ought  to  be  that  it  may  stand  up  on  its  edges  and  not  get  creased, 
indicate  your  idea  of  what  would  be  the  cheapest  available  stock 
for  cards  4x6  and  5x8. 

EXERCISE  27 
General  Suggestions  for  Systematizing. 

Study  carefully  the  "General  Suggestions"  on  pages  21-24  of 
"Foundation  Principles,"  preparatory  to  devising  systems  for  your- 
self. 

What  are  the  objects  of  "systems"?    Discuss  fully. 

What  are  the  two  great  dangers  in  systematizing?  Do  you 
always  ask  the  question,  "Will  I  really  use  this  system  as  I  have 
planned  it?"  And  that  other  one,  "Does  this  system  require  less 
time  or  more  time  to  take  care  of  it  than  the  old  method  I 
followed  before  I  thought  of  systems?" 

Give  examples  of  useless  itemizing  on  cards? 

Describe  the  best  filing  cabinets  and  their  advantages  over 
the  common  letter  file. 

How  should  correcpondence  be  filed? 

Summary  of  Principles 
We  have  certain  foundation  principles  of  systematizing,  which 
may  be  summarized  as  follows : 

1.  Automatic  classification  for  mailing  lists.    Form  1. 

2.  The  automatic  date  signal  device.    Form  2. 

3.  Choice  of  alphabetical,  numerical,  and  special  guides. 
Form  3  and  Form  7. 

4.  Use  of  carbon  paper  in  various  ways,  as  for  keeping  a 
ledger  by  means  of  carbon  copy  of  invoice  as  in  Form  5. 

5.  Installment  bookkeeping  by  means  of  a  dater.    Form  6. 


SYSTE.MATIZIXG  AN  OFFICE  249 

6.  Card  bookkeeping  that  brings  a  variety  of  information  into 
combination  with  a  ledger.     Form  4. 

7.  Use  of  calendar  spaces  for  daily  records,  as  calendar  pads 
or  spaces  under  dates,  as  in  Form  8. 

8.  Use  of  spaces  opposite  numbers  for  totaling  hasty  notes, 
as  Form  9. 

9.  Forms  to  remind  one  of  all  the  different  items  that  go  to 
make  up  any  total,  to  afford  easy  checking,  as  Forms  10  and  12. 

10.  The  perpetual  inventory  system,  arranged  to  show  at  a 
glance  goods  received,  goods  given  out,  and  balances  remaining. 
Form  11. 

11.  Economizing  space  by  providing  for  different  combina- 
tions of  two  or  more  elements.    Form  13. 

12.  Specialized  record  blanks,  such  as  Forms  14,  15,  16,  17, 
and  18,  of  which  there  may  be  an  endless  variety. 

By  combining  these  principles  in  different  ways  we  may  get 
almost  any  system  that  any  business  may  need. 

In  addition  we  should  bear  in  mind  that  we  may  use  the 
following  different  forms  of  paper  for  records,  according  to  cir- 
cumstances : 

1.  Bound  blank  books. 

2.  Cards  of  either  of  three  sizes,  3x5,  4x6,  or  5x8  inches, 
which  may  be  of  three  or  four  different  weights,  of  several  differ- 
ent colors,  with  or  without  attached  tabs. 

3.  Loose  sheets  of  paper  in  binders. 

All  these  different  things  should  be  clearly  in  the  mind  when 
systems  are  being  devised,  and  the  advantages  of  each  carefully 
weighed  whenever  there  is  any  equality  or  balance  of  utility. 

EXERCISE  28 
Systematizing  a  Dentist's  Office 

We  now  have  all  the  principles  at  the  bottom  of  systematizing 
and  should  set  out  to  do  some  systematizing  on  our  own  account. 
Let  us  begin  with  the  simple  records  of  a  dentist. 

We  find  one  who  has  a  little  vestpocket  notebook  in  which 
he  records  his  appointments  and  jots  down  the  work  he  does. 
Once  a  week  he  goes  over  that  notebook  and  transfers  his  charges 
into  a  large  ledger.  When  one  notebook  is  full  he  takes  another, 
and  if  he  wants  to  see  just  what  he  did  last  year,  he  must  look 
back  through  six  or  eight  notebooks  to  find  the  right  one.  When 
he  wants  to  send  out  bills  he  must  turn  over  every  page  in  his 


250  SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE 

big  ledger  to  see  what  accounts  have  not  been  paid.     Can  we 
not  help  him  to  a  better  system? 

First,  we  will  provide  a  calendar  pad  with  a  small  blank 
sheet  of  paper  for  each  day.  He  keeps  his  appointments  on  these, 
writing  the  appointments  on  advance  pages  so  that  when  he  turns 
over  his  calendar  leaf  each  morning  he  sees  before  him  all  the 
appointments  for  that  day.  When  he  is  out  of  the  office  his  clerk 
can  see  just  as  well  what  his  appointments  are  and  make  others 
where  he  does  not  already  have  engagements. 

Then,  instead  of  a  big  old-fashioned  ledger,  we  give  him  a 
card  ledger  of  the  right  size  and  arrangement.  This  should  have 
a  place  to  show  the  date,  kind  of  work  done,  on  what  tooth,  how 
much  time  was  consumed,  and  what  the  money  charge  should  be. 
He  has  the  teeth  numbered  from  the  front  ones  in  the  middle 
around  to  the  back,  L  (capital)  indicates  the  upper  jaw  to  the 
left,  and  R  (capital)  indicates  the  upper  jaw  to  the  right,  small  1 
the  lower  jaw  left  and  r  the  lower  jaw  right.  There  should 
be  a  special  column  for  the  time  expended  and  another  for  the 
amount  charged.  Perhaps  also  one  for  the  cost  of  the  material 
used,  which  is  important  when  a  gold  filling  is  made  or  a  gold 
crown  put  on.    Get  up  such  a  card. 

Accounts  not  paid  are  indicated  by  a  clip  on  top.  How  would 
you  indicate  the  next  date  (automatically)  when  a  collection 
reminder  should  be  sent  (Form  2). 

Cash  received  and  paid  out  is  recorded  in  a  small  cashbook 
(bound).    Why  is  this  better  than  looseleaf  or  cards? 

All  money  received  is  deposited  in  the  bank.  How  can  he  find 
easily  the  totals  for  any  period?  With  what  book  account  must 
the  bank  totals  agree  as  a  check?  How  can  he  use  the  check 
stubs  as  a  journal  to  show  an  analysis  of  how  his  money  was 
paid  out? 

EXERCISE  29 
Systematizing  a  Grocery  Store 
The  old-fashioned  grocer  has  an  order  book  and  a  cash  book. 
Charge  accounts  are  entered  in  the  order  book,  and  every  night 
he  transfers  them  to  his  big  ledger  under  the  individual  names. 
At  the  end  of  the  week  he  goes  through  and  copies  off  pages  of 
the  ledger  in  order  to  send  out  his  bills.  Many  ledger  pages  belong 
to  persons  who  have  moved  away,  so  he  has  to  turn  these  over 
uselessly.  Others  buy  so  many  items  that  accounts  are  always 
being  transferred  to  new  pages,  and  he  has  to  look  sometimes  on 


SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE  251 

four  or  five  pages  to  find  out  items  in  one  account.  He  makes 
change  in  the  money  drawer  for  all  cash  sales,  and  at  night  counts 
up  what  he  has  received  and  enters  the  amount  in  his  cash  book. 
When  one  of  his  clerks  keeps  some  of  the  change  he  does  not 
know  it. 

Our  first  lessons  will  be  upon  the  utility  of  the  cash  register, 
which  the  teacher  will  try  to  exhibit  and  explain  from  the 
printed  matter  supplied  by  the  National  Cash  Register  Co.  of 
Dayton,  Ohio,  where  he  may  write. 

EXERCISE  30 

In  place  of  the  long  order  book  and  big  ledger,  we  will  give 
him  the  little  hand  order  books  with  carbon  sheet,  one  for  every 
clerk.  Show  how  this  will  save  time.  The  original  and  the  carbon 
copy  are  sent  to  the  order  filler,  who  looks  up  the  goods  and  checks 
them  off  on  both  slips,  putting  in  the  prices.  When  the  order 
is  ready  to  go  out  the  carbon  copy  is  put  with  the  goods  and  the 
original  copy  (which  is  clear  and  easy  to  read)  is  sent  to  the 
bookkeeper  for  billing.  The  bookkeeper  has  a  typewriter  and 
copies  off  the  items  on  the  slips  so  as  to  make  an  original  bill  and 
a  carbon  copy.  The  teacher  will  explain  book  typewriters  and 
how  they  are  used,  and  typewriter  billing  device*.  The  carbon 
copy  if  made  loose  is  filed  in  a  binder;  or  if  made  with  a  book 
typewriter  it  is  already  in  its  place  in  the  book.  Or  the  book- 
keeper simply  copies  off  the  slips  on  the  billhead,  fastens  them 
together,  and  files  them  in  a  place  where  he  can  readily  find  them 
at  short  notice,  enters  the  total  in  the  general  looseleaf  ledger, 
and  looks  up  the  slips  if  there  is  any  dispute  about  items.  In 
either  case  there  is  but  one  copying  after  the  clerk  has  taken  the 
order. 

Prepare  dummy  sheets  to  show  the  style  and  size  of  each 
of  these  different  items,  and  if  possible  figure  the  cost  of  printing 
the  different  supplies  needed. 

EXERCISE  31      . 

The  old-fashioned  grocer  orders  more  goods  when  he  thinks 
he  needs  them,  keeps  no  record  of  his  orders,  but  probably  checks 
the  goods  received  by  the  invoices  that  accompany  them.  These 
invoices  he  puts  together  in  a  file  or  drawer,  and  pays  them  when 
dunned  or  when  he  finds  he  has  enough  money  in  the  bank. 

Devise  an  orderbook.  with  original  and  carbon,  and  a  compact 
record    book    which    will    show    accounts    payable    in    summary. 


252  SYSTEMATIZING  AN  OFFICE 

Describe  the  unpacking  of  goods,  checliing,  and  transfer  to  store- 
room, and  method  of  report  to  the  bookkeeper. 

EXERCISE  32 

Work  out  a  perpetual  inventory  for  a  retail  grocer.  What 
size  of  cards  would  you  choose  for  him? 

It  would  cost  too  much  to  enter  it  on  the  proper  card  in  the 
office  every  time  a  pound  of  sugar  was  sold  or  a  can  of  tomatoes 
sent  out.  On  cards  in  the  office  we  enter  the  totals  received  when 
stock  comes  in  on  order.  If  the  stock  is  kept  in  a  stock-room 
and  sold  from  samples,  a  card  is  tied  to  each  sample.  On  this^ 
card  are  rows  of  numbers  from  one  to  30,  perhaps,  or  to  100. 
Under  the  proper  number  showing  the  total  stock  at  start  a  date 
is  entered,  which  says  that  there  were  72  cans  of  tomatoes  in 
stock  on  that  date.  Each  time  a  can  is  sold  the  clerk  marks  1  in 
a  blank  space,  beginning  with  No.  1.  When  all  the  blank  spaces 
up  to  72  have  been  marked,  all  the  stock  has  been  sold.  When 
the  clerk  sees  that  only  one  dozen  cans  are  left  on  hand  he  ties 
a  red  tag  to  the  sample  with  the  other  card,  and  the  buyer  sees 
what  he  needs  to  order. 

Or  he  may  put  out  on  the  shelves  one  dozen  of  each  kind,  or 
whatever  it  may  be,  charging  the  display  room  with  that  number 
and  crediting  the  stock  room.  Th€se  lots  are  charged,  but  the 
clerks  make  no  record  of  single  sales,  but  only  take  what  they 
need  to  fill  orders  and  call  for  more  when  each  lot  is  gone.  The 
stockkeeper  then  gives  notice  when  he  has  given  out  next  to  his 
last  lot,  or  whatever  it  may  be. 

Work  out  a  practical  inventory  scheme  for  the  retail  grocer 
that  will  not  take  too  much  time  to  keep  going,  and  will  prevent 
stealing,  and  at  the  same  time  give  him  a  chance  to  figure  up  his 
total  stock  on  hand  at  short  notice  instead  of  making  a  day  of  it 
onee  a  year.  Consider  how  to  keep  stock  that  does  not  move 
fast  from  being  packed  away  in  a  dark  corner  f'^r  years  without 
being  brought  to  notice. 

EXERCISE  33 

Devise  a  system  for  the  grocer  to  keep  track  of  his  advertis- 
ing so  as  to  know  whether  it  pays  or  not,  not  trying  to  go  further 
than  assurance  that  a  sufficient  number  of  persons  have  come  to 
his  store  in  reply  to  his  advertising. 

Considering  the  grocery  advertisements  given  in  the  Sheet  of 
Specimen  Advertisements  in  the  Advertising  Course,  devise  a  jiroper 


SYSTEMATIZING  AX  OFFICE  253 

card  for  clerks  to  keep  track  of  calls  from  customers  and  sales 
on  advertised  goods.  Then  provide  a  summary  card  that  will 
show  the  necessary  permanent  record,  including  the  total  number 
of  all  orders  and  the  total  amount  of  all  orders  for  each  week,  to 
see  whether  the  advertising  causes  a  general  increase  in  the 
business. 

EXERCISE  S4 
Suppose  the  grocer  is  on  a  rural  free  delivery  route  where  he 
can  reach  farmers  by  telephone,  makes  his  delivery  by  the  mail 
wagon  (private  arrangements  are  permitted  to  the  mail  carriers 
on  these  routes),  and  works  up  business  by  writing  and  sending 
out  circulars.  Devise  a  system  by  which  he  will  record  all  names 
of  possible  prospects,  location,  telephone  number,  and  cost  of  mak- 
ing delivery  by  the  mail  man,  following  up  by  mail,  and  following 
up  by  telephone,  with  method  of  showing  the  returns  from  this 
department  and  judging  whether  it  pays  or  not.  Calls  of  these 
customers  at  the  store  should  also  be  kept  track  of  by  some, 
device  separate  from  the  records  of  local  advertising. 

EXERCISE  35 
System  for  Selling  Pianos  on  Installments. 
A  music  dealer  is  selling  pianos  on  installments  of  $5  to  $15  a 
month,  according  to  the  value  of  the  piano,  'he  installments  ex- 
tending over  two  years  or  such  a  matter.  Devise  a  system  for 
him,  remembering  that  the  first  payment  is  usually  larger  than  the 
later  installments,  which  may  vary,  and  that  it  will  frequently  be 
necessary  to  write  to  delinquent  customers  in  r^ard  to  install- 
ments overdue.  Form  2  suggests  a  method  of  calling  the  account 
up  automatically  on  a  fixed  day  in  the  future  if  payment  has  not 
been  made  by  that  time,  and  avoiding  going  over  all  the  accounts 
as  when  a  regular  ledger  is  used. 


140  HOW  TO  DO  BUSINESS  BY  LETTER 


CHAPTER  XXII 

Customs  and  Regulations  of  the  Post  Office 

(Corrected  to  January  1,   1914.) 

Domestic  mail  matter  is  divided  into  four  classes,  and 
applies  not  only  to  all  mail  matter  addressed  to  all  parts  of  the 
United  States  and  possessions,  Porto  Rico,  Hawaii,  Philippine 
Islands,  U.  S.  Postal  Station  at  Shanghai,  China,  and  Panama 
Canal  Zone,  but  also  to  matter  addressed  to  Canada,  Mexico, 
Cuba,  and  the  Republic  of  Panama,  and  now  Newfoundland, 

The  rates  are  as  follows: 

FIRST  CLASS — Letters,  including  all  sealed  packages  and 
unsealed  packages  containing  writing  of  any  kind  except  the 
name  and  address  of  the  person  addressed,  the  name  and  ad- 
dress of  the  sender,  and  certain  general  directions  and  inscrip- 
tions not  in  the  nature  of  personal  correspondence,  2c  for  each 
ounce  or  fraction  thereof,  limit  of  weight  four  pounds. 

Drop  Letters,  to  be  delivered  at  postoffice  where  mailed, 
not  by  carrier  or  at  a  carrier  office,  rate  Ic  for  each  ounce  or 
fraction  thereof. 

Postal  Cards  furnished  by  the  government,  Ic  each,  2c 
for  double  or  reply  cards. 

Post  Cards,  when  of  cardboard  similar  in  weight  and  tex- 
ture to  the  government  card,  not  smaller  than  2 15/16  by 
4  5/8  inches  nor  larger  than  3  9/16  by  5  9/16  inches,  and  bear- 
ing the  words  "Post  Card"  printed  on  the  address  side,  Ic 
each  by  stamp  affixed. 


REGULATIONS  OF  THE  POST  OFFICE  141 

SECOND  CLASS.  Newspapers  and  periodicals  bearing 
the  statement  "Entered  as  second-class  matter  at  the  postoffice 

at ,"  when  mailed  by  the  general  public,  Ic  for  each 

four  ounces ;  when  mailed  at  the  post  office  by  the  publisher  or 
a  news  agent,  Ic  a  pound;  no  limit  of  weight. 

THIRD  CLASS.  Books  and  all  printed  matter,  including 
photographs  and  other  pictures  when  reproduced  by  any 
mechanical  process,  rate  Ic  for  each  two  ounces  or  fraction 
thereof;  limit  of  weight  four  pounds,  except  in  the  case  of  a 
single  book  weighing  more  than  that. 

FOURTH  CLASS.  Merchandise,  Ic  an  oz.  first  4  oz. ;  by 
parcels  post  combined  length  and  girth  not  over  72  inches.  5c 
first  pound,  Ic  add'l  2  lbs.  locally;  in  150-mile  zone  (limit  20 
lbs.)  5c  and  Ic,  increasing  (limit  11  lbs.)  in  300,  600,  1,000, 
1,400,  and  1,800  mile  zones  to  12c  a  lb.  Insurance,  5c  up  to  $25, 
10c  to  $50.    C.  O.  D.  privilege  extra. 

Open  to  Inspection.  All  matter  of  the  second,  third,  and 
fourth  classes  must  be  so  wrapped  that  the  contents  of  the 
package  can  be  easily  inspected  by  the  post  office  officials. 

Permitted  Writing.  In  the  case  of  second,  third,  and  fourth 
class  matter  it  is  permissible  to  write  both  on  the  article  and 
on  the  wrapper  the  name  and  address  of  sender,  as  well  as 
the  name  and  address  of  the  person  addressed,  such  general 
directions  as  "Personal,"  "Sample  copy,"  "Marked  copy," 
"Please  forward,"  etc.,  a  simple  dedication  or  inscription  in  a 
book  not  in  the  nature  of  personal  correspondence,  or  to  in- 
dorse a  card  with  "Merry  Christmas,"  "Happy  New  Year," 
"Best  Wishes,"  or  the  like;  but  not  directions  to  the  person 
addressed,  such  as  "Please  hang  up"  (on  a  poster  advertise- 
ment), "Please  distribute"  (on  circular  matter),  or  the  like. 

Printers'  proofs  w4th  corrections  marked  upon  them,  either 
alone  or  accompanied  by  the  original  manuscript,  may  be  sent 
at  the  third  class  rate. 

Penalty  for  Unauthorized  Writing.  There  is  a  penalty  of 
$10  for  attempting  to  send  as  second,  third,  or  fourth  class 


142  HOW  TO  DO  BUSINESS  BY  LETTER 

matter  anything  bearing  writing  except  as  specifically  author- 
ized by  law. 

Prepayment.  At  least  2c  must  be  prepaid  on  letters,  and 
the  full  amount  of  postage  on  second,  third,  and  fourth  class 
matter.  If  postage  on  letters  is  deficient  it  will  be  collected 
at  destination.  If  postage  on  matter  of  other  classes  is  de- 
ficient, the  sender,  if  his  name  appears,  or  else  the  person  ad- 
dressed, will  be  notified  and  matter  will  be  held  until  deficient 
postage  is  sent. 

Foreign  Postage 

Foreign  mail  matter  to  countries  in  the  Universal  Postal 
Union  is  divided  differently  from  domestic  matter. 

Letters  (including  packages  of  merchandise  not  admissi- 
ble as  ''samples"  or  under  parcels  post  arrangements,  as  there 
is  no  regular  foreign  merchandise  rate),  5c  for  the  first  ounce 
or  fraction  thereof  and  3c  for  each  subsequent  ounce  or  frac- 
tion thereof;  no  limit  of  weight.  Great  Britain,  Newfound- 
land, and  Germany  (latter  in  direct  German  steamers  only), 
2c  each  ounce  or  fraction.     Postal  cards,  each  2c. 

Printed  Matter.  Rate  Ic  for  each  two  ounces  or  fraction 
thereof ;  limit  of  weight  four  pounds  and  six  ounces. 

Commercial  Papers,  including  book  manuscripts,  deeds, 
receipts,  and  other  formal  written  documents  not  in  the  na- 
ture of  personal  correspondence,  rate  5c  for  the  first  ten 
ounces  and  Ic  for  each  two  ounces  thereafter;  limit  of  weight 
four  pounds  and  six  ounces. 

Samples.  Single  articles  of  merchandise  sent  as  genuine 
samples  from  merchants  or  manufacturers,  to  promote  busi- 
ness, rate  2c  for  the  first  four  ounces  or  fraction  thereof,  and 
Ic  for  each  subsequent  two  ounces;  limit  of  weight  12  ounces. 

Registration  fee  on  letters  or  other  articles,  10c. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.00  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


JAN  25  1936 


RECD  LD 


.lUN  2  4  1959 


aUL    281fl32 


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OCT  ^4  1937 (CT3    '^3^1 


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lec'J  circ.  MAR  1  0  1083 


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DEC  22 1986 


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KNEBAL  UBBARY-U.C.  BEBKELEY 

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-  UNIVERSITY  ^F  CAUFORNIA  UBRARY 


